European Parliament Environment Committee backs draft rules to reduce consumption of plastic bags

13 March 2014

EU states would have to reduce the consumption of most common and polluting plastic bags by 80% by 2019, under draft rules backed by the Environment. To this end, MEPs recommend using economic instruments such as taxes and levies, marketing restrictions or bans.
Plastic carrier bag litter is a major environmental concern, known to affect water bodies and aquatic eco-systems in particular. Swiftly phasing-out these bags is a very low-hanging fruit on the list of solutions to the problem of plastic waste in the environment, said MEP Margrete Auken. The text will be put to a vote at the 14-17 April plenary session in Strasbourg (Press Release European Parliament, 11 March 2014).
Click here for the press release.

This item is also included in our monthly overview, the NVC Members-only Update. If you have any questions, please contact us: info@nvc.nl, +31-(0)182-512411.