Negotiations over the proposals to reduce carrier bag usage have been ongoing within the European Commission this week and were passed to MEPs today for approval. The proposals will be examined further by the Parliament’s Environment Committee on Monday.
If the rules come into force, Member States would be able to choose between two policy options: to either take measures to ensure that average yearly consumption of these bags does not exceed 90 lightweight bags per citizen by 2019 and 40 by 2025, or alternatively to ensure that by 2018 they are not handed to shoppers free of charge.
The European Commission would also have to evaluate the impact on the environment of oxo-degradable plastic materials, which fragment into small particles, and propose measures accordingly.
Ambition
Commenting on the proposals, Danish MEP Margrete Auken, who is guiding the legislation through the Parliament, said: “This is an historic moment for all of Europe. For the first time ever we have agreed on ambitious measures to reduce the amount of plastic bag waste in the environment. This is good news for the environment and all Europeans who expected the EU to take ambitious action on plastic bags.
“As front-running countries have demonstrated, dramatically reducing the consumption of these disposable bags is easily achievable with a consistent policy. Swiftly phasing out these bags is a readily-implementable solution to the pervasive problem of plastic waste in the environment.”
In the UK, governments have already moved to reduce the use of plastic carrier bags, with the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments all having introduced levies on single-use carrier bags, with a similar charge to come into effect in England from autumn 2015.
PlasticsEurope, the continental trade body for the plastics industry, has backed proposals for mandatory charges for plastic carrier bags, adding that this can help to raise awareness of waste reduction and littering amongst consumers.
Karl H Foerster, executive director of PlasticsEurope, said: “A mandatory charge is the best option as it has been proved to be an effective tool to reduce the over-consumption of lightweight plastic bags. We should understand that plastics are too valuable to be thrown away. Charging for bags can have a positive effect on raising consumers’ awareness of the economic value of the resources that have been used to produce the bag.
“While carrier bags are considered as packaging under the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive, PlasticsEurope believes they should be treated differently to other types of packaging since they are independent from the packaged good.”
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