EUROPE TO GO STRAWLESS
EU-WIDE BAN ON SINGLE-USE PLASTIC ITEMS LIKE COTTON BUDS, CUTLERY PROPOSED
The European Union (EU) proposed on Monday a bloc-wide ban on singleuse plastics such as straws, cutlery and cotton buds while urging the collection of most plastic drinks bottles by 2025.
The set of proposals are part of a growing European Union drive to rid the environment of plastic waste which has begun showing up in the food chain.
“Plastic waste is undeniably a big issue and Europeans need to act together to tackle this problem,” EU First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said.
“Today’s proposals will reduce single-use plastics on our supermarket shelves through a range of measures,” Timmermans added.
The proposals call for banning banning plastic cotton buds, cut- lery, plates, straws, drink stirrers and balloon sticks, but it did not set a deadline.
The Commission proposal will still need to be approved by the European Parliament and Council, and the Commission said it hoped for it to be given the green light before the European elections in May 2019.
Member states must reduce the use of plastic food containers and drinks cups, by promoting alternatives for sale or ensuring they are not offered free.
Under the plan, producers must contribute to the costs of waste management and will be offered incentives to develop less polluting alternatives.
For example, it calls for producers of plastic fishing gear to cover the cost of waste collection from port reception facilities.
Under the plan, member countries must collect 90 per cent of single-use plastic drinks bottles by 2025, through deposit refund schemes, for example.
The plan calls for producers to clearly label products and inform consumers how the waste should be disposed of.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said businesses will benefit from one set of rules for an EU market of around 500 million people.
It said it will encourage EU companies to develop economies of scale and become more competitive in the “booming” global market for sustainable products.
Research published in the online journal Scientific Reports estimates a garbage patch of some 79,000 metric tonnes — 1.8 trillion pieces — of plastic has formed in the Pacific Ocean, mainly consisting of fishing nets, plastic containers, packaging and ropes.
“The only way to stop plastics pouring into our oceans is to turn off the flow at its source: production,” said Lasse Gustavsson, the European executive director of the environmental group Oceana, as he lauded the initiative.
European Green Party lawmaker Monica Frassoni also welcomed the initiative and added that “the scale of the problem means that we cannot rely on individual European countries to take action and must instead find a Europe-wide response.” The European Parliament has said that plastics production is now 20 times higher than in 1960s. The European Union has also been
The only way to stop plastics pouring into our oceans is to turn off the flow at its source: production. Lasse Gustavsson, Oceana official
spurred into action by China’s decision to no longer import part of the bloc’s waste. The proposals, plus one in January for all plastic packaging in Europe to be recyclable by 2030, follows China’s decision to ban imports of foreign waste products for recycling. The European
We cannot rely on individual European countries to take action and must instead find a Europewide response. Monica Frassoni, European Green Party lawmaker
Union currently exports half of its collected and sorted plastics, 85 per cent of which goes to China. — AFP, Reuters, AP
Plastic waste is undeniably a big issue and Europeans need to act together to tackle this problem”
Frans Timmermans, EU First Vice-President