Plastic bags ban

 

What should be done about plastic bags?

The European Commission is to publish proposals in the spring designed to reduce the number of plastic bags used in Europe each year.

Every year 800,000 tonnes of so-called single-use plastic bags are used in the European Union - the average EU citizen used 191 of them in 2010, the Commission says, and only 6% were recycled.
More than four billion bags are thrown away each year.
The impact of this plastic waste can be seen littering our landscape, threatening our wildlife and accumulating as 'plastic soup' in the Pacific Ocean
In 2011 Italy became the first country in Europe to ban the bags. Some countries have banned very thin plastic bags, including China, South Africa, Kenya, and Uganda
In Bangladesh, it was found that the bags had clogged up the drainage system, making the country's floods even worse.
Some say the solution is for people to use their own bags, while others claim paper bags are better.
So what are the options for addressing the problem and where have they been tried?
British government minister Lord Henley said last year he was "not happy" the use of carrier bags in the UK had risen by 5% in 2010, after four years of decline. He suggested the UK might introduce a ban.
Friends of the Earth are in favour of this as long as alternatives are adequately highlighted, people and shopkeepers have enough time to prepare, and it does not have a "disproportionate impact on the poor".

 

The Republic of Ireland introduced a charge of 15 euro cents (12p, 20 US cents) per bag in March 2002, which led to a 95% reduction in plastic bag litter. Within a year, 90% of shoppers were using long-life bags.
Belgium, Germany, Spain, Norway and the Netherlands are among the countries following Ireland's lead.

Long-life bags

If shoppers stop using plastic bags, they must start using other kinds of bags, but there is no perfect solution. Stronger, heavier bags, whether made of fabric or plastic, have a bigger environmental impact than standard supermarket shopping bags.
Last year Britain's Environment Agency published a Life Cycle Assessment of Supermarket Carrier Bags, which concluded that long-life bags have to be reused a number of times if they are to be environmentally a better option than standard plastic carrier bags.
Whatever type of bag is used, the key to reducing the impact is to reuse it as many times as possible either for shopping or as a bin liner.