European Union states are preparing to impose sanctions against single-use plastic bags, making them unprofitable or legally restricting their use
Representatives of all 28 EU states agreed in Brussels on restrictions on the use of single-use plastic: the price of bags must increase. The goal set for EU members is to reduce the use of single-use plastic bags by more than half by 2019, from the current average of 200 bags per year per EU resident to 90.
By 2025, we must learn to make do with only forty bags per year. To achieve this, all EU countries will have to develop their own measures to limit plastic use. Whether these will be additional fees, taxes, uniform high prices, or local bans is not yet known.
The restrictions will apply to ordinary plastic bags that customers purchase or receive for free at the checkout of supermarkets, clothing stores, or shopping malls. The thinnest – usually transparent or translucent – bags used to package vegetables, sausage, fish, and meat products will be exempt from restrictions. This is explained by the fact that otherwise, for packaging these food products, retailers would start using even more environmentally harmful materials, such as Styrofoam containers. Also, heavy-duty plastic bags suitable for repeated use will not be subject to sanctions.
Statistical data on the cost, use, and habits of plastic bag usage vary significantly from one EU state to another. In some places, such packaging is given away for free, in others they charge tens of cents per bag. According to the European Parliament, in 2010 each EU citizen on average used 200 single-use bags per year.
The Irish are considered the most economical and environmentally conscious: consumers on the Emerald Isle use on average only 20 bags per year, 18 of them single-use. Germany in this regard, by its statistical indicators, is close to the European average: Germans require 71 plastic bags per year, 64 of which are single-use. Danes and Finns use even slightly more bags – 79 and 77, but only four of them are single-use. The biggest wasters of plastic are Poles and Portuguese: residents of each of these countries use over 500 single-use bags per year.
The environment can barely cope with such a load. According to experts, it takes nature about 450 years for a plastic bag to completely disappear. Plastic not only covers the surface of the world's oceans with giant garbage carpets but also breaks down into small particles that damage wildlife. According to the European Commission, 94% of birds in the North Sea have plastic particles in their stomachs. In the Danube basin, there is more plastic than fish. Even the deep sea is now considered polluted by experts.
The first steps towards limiting the use of plastic bags, following the recommendations of EU members, will be a positive decision by the European Parliament's Environment Committee. This must be followed by the consent of EU ministers and the plenary of the European Parliament. All these formalities must be settled before the beginning of next year. Then each country will have to think independently about achieving the set goals.
Maxim SMIRNOV.
«Русская Германия»