Tunisia’s government approved the use of polypropylene for packaging cement, but the move has already drawn ire of the country’s environmentalists and the Tunisian Industrial Paper and Cardboard Co (Sotupapier).

Sotupapier filed a complaint with the administrative tribunal on 21 August 2020 to challenge the decision taken by the Tunisian ministers of industry and trade. The company expects the step to increase plastic pollution through the production of at least 150m new polypropylene bags each year, especially as the country has no adequate system for collecting and disposing them.

However, the National Chamber of Cement Producers (CNPC) has come out in support of the government’s decision. The use of polypropylene packaging will considerably reduce bag breakage and its consequent loss of product as well as provide improved protection against humidity, according to the CNPC.

The controversy comes amid steps by the Tunisian government to ban plastic bags from 2021 for producers, suppliers and users.