European Union member states could cut their plastic bag use by 80%, the European commission has said, by charging for bags or even banning them.
Plastic bags are a major cause ofseaborne pollution, which is a serious hazard for marine life, and some regions have already moved to cut their use through charging. The UK deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, has pledged to bring forward charges in England that will affect single-use bags given out by supermarkets.
The European commission is proposing a new directive that would require member states to choose between three methods ofreducing the waste from bags: charges, national reduction targets, or an outright ban. The packaging industry has responded by saying that most people use their plastic bags more than once, for instance using them as bins, but that does not cut the overall use.
When plastic bags, or pieces of them, find their way into the seas, they are a major hazard to marine life. A whale found dead on the Southern Spanish coast was found to have swallowed 17kg of plastic waste, including plastic bags. Fish, seabirds and mammals can ali ingest plastic, which they cannot digest and which can clog up their guts or cause choking.
One of the key problems with plastic bags is that they are so light and small that they easily escape into the environment, defying attempts to recycle them. The European commission has identified this as a key reason for cutting the use ofthe bags, and other plastic packaging. The first moves to legislate atan EU levei were made in 2011, and today's announcement is likely to take at least two years to put into practice.
According to the most recent estimates, from 2008, the EU produces 3.4m tonnes of plastic bags in a year.
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