Garbage avoidance: European Union member states limit consumption of plastic bags

Brussels - you are bought, used usually only once and thrown away then: Plastic bags belong to the largest environmental problems of the industrialized countries. Now the European Union seizes counter measures: The Ambassadors of the 28 member states voted on Friday in Brussels closed for the project to limit plastic bag consumption. Thus the compromise negotiated before took the last important hurdle.

It concerns thereby the completely normal plastic bag, which the consumer receives at the cashier, is it in the supermarket, in the fashion fashion shop or in the department store. Thin-walled bags are exceptional, into which for instance fresh meat, sausage, fish or also fruit are packed. This exception is justified above all with the fact that a prohibition could promote still more harmful packing such as bowls from foam material. Also extra-strong plastic bags do not fall under the regulation.

Partially plastic bags cost today already small amounts of cent, in many places them however are still free of charge delivered. Consumption is extremely different from country to country. In the year 2010 according to a statistics of the European parliament each European Union-citizen used on the average 200 bags. The Irish are most economical: They need only 20 pieces on average, under it 18 one-way bags. The Germans are appropriate for 64 one-way bags in the centre zone, it use on the average 71 bags, of it. In Denmark and Finland humans use 79 and/or 77 bags, of it only four one-way bags. The largest spendthrifts are Poland and Portuguese, which use altogether nearly 500 bags per head and year.

Some smaller hurdles must still take the plans for plastic bag delimitation now. On Monday the environment committee of the European parliament is to co-ordinate on it, a yes is however expected. Afterwards still the formal acceptance lines up by the Ministers of the European Union member states and the plenum of the European parliament. All of this might happen up to the spring.