Brussels, 04/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - Obliging the member states to take any measures they see fit to prevent and reduce, on their territory, the use of light plastic carrier bags (finer than 50 microns) designed for single use is the objective pursued by the European Commission through a legislative proposal it adopted on Monday 4 November. This proposal, which has been long expected and has been presented late, is designed to tackle the problem of waste plastic and consists of amending existing legislation - directive 94/62/EC on packaging and waste packaging (Article 4 on the prevention of such waste) to oblige the member states to take action, in full respect of subsidiarity. Taxing single-use plastic bags, banning their use or laying down national objectives for cutting use, the member states will be able to choose how they want to act as long as the measures they adopt have the desired result, in other words less waste.
“The proposal will oblige all member states to adopt measures, whilst giving them flexibility. Every year, some 100 billions plastic bags are used throughout the EU, 90% of which are lightweight plastic bags, which are less reused than thicker bags. More than eight billion light plastic bags end up as waste in the marine environment - a veritable plague for fish and birds which ingest plastic particles. More resistant lightweight bags are very popular. They represent between 70% and 80% of this waste and are a serious threat to the environment”, said Janez Potocnik, setting out what is at stake behind this proposal to the press. Most of these bags are imported from China.
Twelve member states have already legislated, with Denmark and Finland coming top of the table. 13 countries have taken voluntary initiatives. “If other member states followed suit, we could reduce the use of these plastic bags by 80%”, the commissioner stressed. He referred to the example of Ireland, which has brought in a tax, resulting in a 95% reduction in waste from these bags. Two member states - Poland and Cyprus - have taken no measures at all or have not communicated any national measures to the Commission.
“A symbol of our society of wastage, the plastic bag has a lifecycle of hundreds of years for a few minutes' use. We need to move towards a model that respects the limits of the planet”, said Potocnik, calling for a change in attitude before the point of no-return is reached.
Why, then, does the Commission not propose compulsory organic bags produced from sweetcorn, for example? Potocnik answered this question by saying that the biodegradable plastic bag was not a panacaea as “it degrades over time but needs combustion installations in order to be eliminated, and it is not therefore a solution for waste” (our translation).
In 2010, around 98.6 billion plastic carrier bags were distributed on the EU market. Every European uses around 198 plastic carrier bags per year. These bags are largely lightweight bags. The average annual consumption varies strongly from one member state to another - from four bags in Denmark and Finland to 466 in Poland, Portugal and Slovakia.
Lack of clear targets. In the European Parliament, the Greens blame the European Commission for leaving it open to member states to decide how to reduce plastic bags. Margrete Auken (Greens/EFA, Denmark), who is the spokesperson for the Greens, believes that “while a European approach to reducing plastic use is long overdue, the Commission is sitting on the fence with today's proposals. The failure to set out clear targets for reducing lightweight plastic bags will clearly undermine the prospect of ensuring a reduction across the EU. Instead, the Commission is leaving it open to member states to decide how and to what extent they seek to reduce plastic bags. (…) As a number of member states have already shown, the use of these bags can be significantly reduced with effective policy-making. Given plastic waste is an issue that transcends borders, a coherent EU approach, with clear targets for reduction, is badly needed. While member states should be able to choose how to reduce plastic bag use - whether through bans or levies - there should be obligatory reduction targets, otherwise only those member states that want to act will do so.”
On 18 October, the Commission launched a consultation on marine litter, which is 80% composed of plastic (see EUROPE 10946). (AN/transl.fl)