Australian ban on fish-shaped plastic soy sauce dispensers a world first | South Australia

They have been a familiar show in sushi stores to take away in the world for decades, but this could be the start of the end of soybean sauce distributors.

Australia-meridion will be the first place in the world to prohibit them under a broader ban on single-use plastics which come into force on September 1.

The apparatus known as Shoyu-Tai (or Vivaneau de Soy in Japanese) was invented in 1954 by Teruo Watanabe, the founder of the company based in Osaka, Asahi Sogyo, according to a Kansai radio report in Japan.

It was then common for glass and ceramic containers to be used, but the advent of inexpensive industrial plastics allowed the creation of a small container in fishylene in the shape of fish, officially called the “charm of lunch”.

The invention quickly spread around Japan and finally around the world, and it is estimated that billions have been produced.

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Under the new law of Australia-Meridional, only the containers of pre-filled soy sauce with cover, cap or cap and containing less than 30 ml of soy sauce will be prohibited. Plastic sachets will be authorized, but the government hopes that bulk bottles or distributors will be used in sushi stores instead.

Southern Australian Minister of Australia, Dr. Susan Close said that each plastic plastic container has been used for a few seconds, but “their small size means that they are easily abandoned, breathtaking or washed in the drains, making it a frequent element of the beach and the street litter”.

“They are an element of” convenience packaging “which can be replaced by solutions of bulk or fulfillable condiment or more manageable alternatives, which means that their elimination directly reduces the volume of single -use plastic entering the flow of waste,” said Close.

Other single-use plastic items included in the prohibition are plastic cutlery and extensive polystyrene food packaging, such as pre-on-the-light instant bowl noodles.

Dr. Nina Wootton, a marine environmentalist at the University of Adélaïde, said that plastic sushi fish are more damaging because they could be confused with food by marine life.

“If he has not yet been broken down into microplastics and floats in all its shape, then other organisms that eat fish of this size might think that it is a fish and eat it,” said Wootton.

“As they are a fairly thick plastic, it takes a while to degrade.”

CIP Hamilton, campaign director of Australian Marine Conservation Society, said that the ban on single -use plastics was a good start, but it was necessary to do more.

“Prohibitions like these are an important small step towards reducing plastic pollution, but it is important that governments are starting to consider the reduction and elimination of problematic plastics across the system,” said Hamilton.

“What our oceans really need is that the governments of states and federals introduce solid laws that reduce plastic production and consumption and hold the companies responsible for the products they place on the shelves, if not marine life and the coasts of Australia will continue to suffer under mountains of plastic pollution”.