EU moves step closer to ending various single-use plastics

DPA
·2 min read
France has already introduced rules stopping supermarkets from wrapping fruit and vegetables in plastic, but these could soon be expanded across the EU to end the use of various single-use plastics. Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa
France has already introduced rules stopping supermarkets from wrapping fruit and vegetables in plastic, but these could soon be expanded across the EU to end the use of various single-use plastics. Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa

Small shampoo bottles, light grocery bags and other single-use plastics may soon be disappearing from the European Union after lawmakers in the world's largest trading bloc took a step closer to further bans on certain plastics.

Other items facing prohibition include single-use packaging for fruit, vegetables and condiments in restaurants, where staff will be required to allow customers to bring their own reusable cups and containers with them when they dine in.

The latest proposed restrictions come after the EU in 2021 banned plastic items such as straws and cutlery - and after the European Parliament this week voted in favour of requiring manufacturers to fix broken gadgets in an effort to reduce waste.

According to a European Parliament statement, the bloc’s plastic packaging waste "increased from 66 million tonnes in 2009 to 84 million tonnes in 2021." Other estimates put the global total of plastic waste at 400 million tonnes a year.

"We now call on all industrial sectors, EU countries and consumers to play their part in the fight against excess packaging," said Belgian Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Frédérique Ries.

Virginia Jansens, managing director of industry organisation Plastics Europe, said the proposals, though "ambitious," could be "an important milestone in the transition to a circular [recycling] plastics economy."

Some environmental groups were quick to criticize the measures, however. "MEPs are essentially handing European consumers an umbrella full of holes in a rainstorm of greenwashing," said Lauriane Veillard from organization network Zero Waste Europe.

After MEPs endorsed the curbs in an April 24 vote, the proposals are to be put to member-state governmments, which will have to make sure 90% of permitted single-use plastics and cans are recycled via deposit return schemes - if they agree to pass the measures into law.

European supermarket giant Aldi has already largely stopped using plastic bags for bagging fruit. However planned EU laws could soon ban their use across the bloc. Marcel Kusch/dpa
European supermarket giant Aldi has already largely stopped using plastic bags for bagging fruit. However planned EU laws could soon ban their use across the bloc. Marcel Kusch/dpa