MEPs vote to reduce plastic bag use by 2019

MEPs in the environment committee sided in favour of draft rules backing a report into single-use plastic bag reduction by 44 votes, ruling that such a measure would be easily achievable with a coherent policy. The text will be put to a vote at the 14-17 April plenary session in Strasbourg.

Under the proposed legislation, EU member states would have to reduce the consumption of most common and polluting plastic bags, implementing measures such as taxes, levies and marketing restrictions to achieve the target.

EU members would also have to reduce consumption by at least 50% by 2017, with plastic bags used to wrap food such as fruit, vegetables and confectionary to be replaced two years later with carrier bags that are either biodegradable, compostable, or made of recycled paper.

Some MEPs argue that lightweight plastic bags with a thickness below 50 microns, which represent the vast majority of plastic carrier bags consumed in the EU, are less reusable than thicker models and enter the waste stream more quickly.

Margrete Auken, the MEP who authored the plastic bag report, said: MEPs have voted for EU legislation that would deliver a significant and swift reduction in single-use plastic bags. As front-running countries in the EU and beyond have demonstrated, dramatically reducing the consumption of these plastic bags is easily achievable with a coherent policy.

Swiftly phasing-out these bags is a very low-hanging fruit on the list of solutions to the pervasive problem of plastic waste in the environment.

She added: MEPs also supported provisions to ensure mandatory pricing of plastic bags in the food sector, as well as a strong recommendation to do so in the non-food sector, too. Putting a price on single-use bags is a proven and highly effective policy tool for reducing their excessive consumption.”

Warning

The vote follows a warning UK academic Professor Richard Thompson not to impose a policy that would encourage greater use of biodegradable plastics, who spoke at a seminar organised by MEPs from the Greens and European Free Alliance group in Brussels last month (see letsrecycle.com story). He argued that more focus should be placed on increasing the content of recycled material in new plastic products.

Meanwhile, the UK government has already acted to try and cut the number of single use bags handed out by retailers and has announced plans for a levy on carrier bags that would apply in England from 2015. However, a group of MPs have described the plans as a complete mess due to the inclusion of exemptions for biodegradable and paper bags (see letsrecycle.com story).