The business sector is awaiting a new round of high-level talks with the government regarding the potential ban on plastic bottles for beverage production. According to Nikoloz Khundzakhishvili, Corporate Affairs Director of EFES Georgia, the industry will present a unified position, stressing that any decision must fully consider economic risks. He told TV-program Analytics that meetings with ministers and likely the Prime Minister, are expected this week, after initial assurances that plastic bottle restrictions were not being discussed.
Khundzakhishvili noted that the issue unexpectedly resurfaced at the end of last year, when the government announced a unilateral plan to ban the production, imports and sale of beverages in plastic bottles starting February 1, 2027. He stressed that such a blanket ban has virtually no precedent worldwide and is unrealistic for most beverage categories. According to him, a plastic bottle phase-out is technically feasible only in the beer industry—but even in this case, it requires a gradual, well-coordinated transition of about five years.
He emphasized that banning plastic bottles for non-alcoholic beverages, water, mineral water or carbonated drinks is not practical. A workable approach, he argued, must be based on structured cooperation between industry and government. The rushed decision contradicts recommendations made even in the World Bank–funded study “Let’s Make the Black Sea Blue,” which he says was partly misinterpreted. If the economic impact is significantly negative, the policy must be reconsidered.
As Khundzakhishvili explained, the real solution lies not in outright prohibitions but in properly implementing the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) model, where producers take responsibility for collecting and recycling packaging waste. He stressed that major beverage companies already separate and hand over their production-related plastic waste to licensed recyclers—none of it goes to municipal landfills. What remains is to create an effective system for post-consumer plastic collection, ensuring environmentally sound waste management without destabilizing the beverage industry.
