War on plastic, EU polls citizens about reducing plastic bag use
All too often many in Europe are too quick to criticize the European Commission accusing them of creating endless red tape and bureaucracy which doesn’t provide benefits to the individual member states of the body. While that can arguably be the case with various situations the 25,000 strong organization looks to provide legislation that provides universal benefits to the 27 member states. I’m just pleased to see them join the ‘war on plastic’and see the approach they’re taking is definitely looking to get everyday citizens involved.
The European Union is like everywhere else looking to greatly reduce the use of plastic bags. To try and find a comprehensive and workable solution that will drive down usage they are asking the public for suggestions.
A web-based survey has been created and will remain in place until August seeking the public’s opinions about solutions to reduce the impact of plastic bags. Ideas being considered include charging for bags or an outright ban on plastic bags throughout the region. The EC are also seeking opinions regarding how to best increase the visibility of biodegradable packaging products and changing those requirements so that plastic use is no longer as widespread. European Commissioner for Environment Janez Potocnik said
“Fifty years ago, the single-use plastic bag was almost unheard of – now we use them for a few minutes and they pollute our environment for decades. But social attitudes are evolving and there is a widespread desire for change. That’s why we are looking at all the options, including a Europe-wide ban on plastic carrier bags. We need the views of as many people as possible to complement our scientific analyses1 and help drive policy on this issue, which is suffocating our environment.”
Can the European Commission tackle plastic bags effectively?
Just like North America the statistics for plastic bag use are rather outrageous. The average EU citizen will annually use about 500 plastic bags with the vast majority on the being used on a single occasion. Based on 2008 statistics this equated to 3.4 million tons of plastic bags, and with so many of the population centres being coastal or near coastal a huge percentage of the bags wind up in the marine ecosystem raising pollution levels. At present some nations have already enacted changes that resulted in partial bans or sees retailers charging for plastic bags which has provided some positive results however no EU wide legislation is currently in place. While the famed pacific trash vortex gets most of the press for being the planet’s largest marine concentration of plastic particles the Mediterranean is now facing similar (if smaller) problems. The EU estimates that 250 billion plastic particles are floating around in the Mediterranean Sea.
Reusable bags or biodegradable bags in tandem with legislation provide such a simple opportunity to greatly reduce the problem if not eradicate it. It does take a tiny amount of habit changing for shoppers but compared with the environmental impact it seems an easy decision to make. I’ll be curious to see just how aggressively the EU decides to tackle the problem as there will hopefully be a positive ripple effect elsewhere.
2 comments:
1. I don’t believe this statistic: “The average EU citizen will annually use about 500 plastic bags”, unless you are counting all manner of packaging and all sizes of plastic bags – and even then I’m doubtful.
2. Why mention a survey and neglect to provide a link to it?
Thanks for your comment, I thought the number seemed high but then again when you realise it’s just less than 10 per week and that Europeans are far less likely to a/ drive to shopping (more need for bags) b/shop in large mega-stores than in North America – it then seems credible. For example shopping daily/every other day is more common as is going to a baker, a butcher, a greengrocer and other rather than a supermarket.
The statistic was offered by the European Commission. I didn’t link the story as I couldn’t register to do so, but the survey is on the EC website.
Thanks for that Tim. Here in the UK, the weekly drive to the supermarket is every bit as entrenched as it is in the USA, so “daily bagging” isn’t that prevalent. Also, pretty much all of the major chains also have “Bag for life” offers – you buy a bag and when it breaks you get a free replacement. So why would you want a weak plastic bag?
I have 7 organic bags that are used frequently – I bought some and my wife bought some – and about 10 plastic bags in a drawer – they’re there because I made some last-minute purchases and bought more than I could comfortably carry in my arms. That’s a year’s worth of bags – 17.
I’m willing to believe that other European countries use lots more bags, but I still feel that the size of the bags is relevant to the issue, plus I am more concerned about the outrageous quantity of packaging stores of all types inflict on us. Cheers.