President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has brought amendments to the decree outlining the list of environmentally harmful single-use plastic products.

These amendments, made in consultation with the Ministry of Climate Change, Environment and Energy, have been published in the Maldivian Government Gazette as Decree No. 15/2026.

Under this amendment, the deadline for importing plastic straws (single-use plastic straws used for drinking liquids) listed under item 1 has been changed to June 1, 2031. Previously, this date was June 1, 2021. Furthermore, the domestic production and market release ban for these items has been deferred from December 19, 2022, to December 19, 2031.

Additionally, the deadline for importing and producing bottled water ranging from 500 milliliters to 1 liter (listed under item 13) has been deferred to December 1, 2029. It has also been determined that the market release ban for water bottles of this size will take effect on June 1, 2030.

Another change brought to the decree is modifying the plastic bottle size previously specified under item 14 from 500 milliliters to 250 milliliters. Accordingly, the list has been amended to prohibit the import, production, and market release of prepared beverages (excluding water) packaged in plastic bottles smaller than 250ml, effective starting today.