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THE EUROPEAN UNION has agreed upon laws that would cut the usage of single-use plastics across the bloc.
The directive, which still requires the official approval of EU states and the European parliament, will come into effect in two years time if it is passed.
It follows a proposal by the European Commission in May to ban a range of single-use plastic items such as straws, cotton buds and cutlery.
The measures agreed yesterday include banning those items, as well as expanded polystyrene food containers and beverage cups.
They would also ensure that manufacturers paid for waste management and the clean-up of other single-use plastic items, including plastic cigarette butts and fishing gear.
However, some campaigners argue that yesterday’s agreement falls short of what is necessary to tackle the problem of single-use plastics across the continent.
Concerns have been raised over the lack of binding EU-wide target to reduce the consumption of single-use plastics, with the aim for countries to “significantly reduce” their consumption considered too vague.
Meadhbh Bolger, resource justice campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe on behalf of Rethink Plastic, said that the plastics lobby was attempting to delay and weaken the ambition of the proposals.
“Citizens across Europe want to see an end to our throwaway culture and politicians have taken the first step,” she said.
“The time is ripe for Europe to transition away from single-use plastics to reusables.”
Environment ministers across the EU are expected to sign off on the agreed directive today, with member states being given two years to transpose it into their national laws, which would come into force at the start of 2021 at the latest.
TheJournal.ie has contacted the Department of the Environment to confirm whether Minister Richard Bruton will sign off on the agreement today.
Why not just ban single use plastic right now
@David Saunders: probably need to give companies time to make changes, adapt machines etc
@David Saunders: Whatever about now surely a one year lead in would be plenty of time to adjust.
@offtheball: not really, procurement deals/sourcing orders would already have been placed for well into next year.
This is the last straw!
@Sean:
@Sean: ah suck on it
I’ll never understand why they don’t ban Plastic where ever possible, Glass bottles with a deposit would be far better, and paper bags like they have in America for the messages that can be recycled into bog roll even as soon as you have the shopping put away. These companies that produce them should be made to pay & not the public, 2 years?? Do they want a medal? Or a bribe from the makers of the plastic?
@P Block Loftus road: Them paper bags are just in the Films.. I lived there and never got my shopping in one.
@P Block Loftus road: You do realise that anything extra that the companies have to pay will be passed on to the consumer anyway right? Other than that you’re fairly on the ball.
Plastic is absolutely everywhere – most of our clothes are plastic (polyester, polyamide, nylon)- leaking plastic fibres with every wash into the sea. Our shoes are partially plastic. Our car tyres are spraying microplastics as they wear (there is no rubber in modern tyres). Our packaging is plastic. Our paper is plastic (at least coated in it). Our cardboard milk/juice cartons are lined with plastic. Our furniture is heavily plastic. Our childrens toys are plastic.
Plastic is cheap and where profit is king the non plastic alternatives are ignored by our law makers.
Macroplastics are obviously choking and killing the natural world but microplastics are building in your bodys cells as we speak. The implications will be huge.
@Ranty McCrank: empower yourself with citizen science and fight back by mapping and sharing data on plastic pollution anywhere @ openlittermap.com – it’s like Pokémon Go for Tidy towns
Typical nanny state nonsense. If I want to buy a pack of 500 straws and toss then into the sea with wanton abandonment the thats my business, people have been doing that with their single use plastics for thousands of years, maybe even hundreds, and it hasn’t harmed anyone, suck on that.
@BarronVonVaderHam: Sometimes your levels of sarcasm are so fine grained I can hardly tell.
@Edmund Murphy: single use plastic was actually invented in 1933 by accident by England and was used in WW2 by them in secret. The first single use plastic bag was created in 1960s by a Swedish company, so you are far from wrong. Our oceans are polluted with plastics, chemicals, heavy metals etc and when plastic starts decomposing it releases very toxic particles and you eat that in the form of fish and any other seas life you eat as they ingest those particles and you are doing just as much damage to your body as you are to the environment.
@BarronVonVaderHam: this one is a poor effort. I’ve seen better stuff from you.
@BarronVonVaderHam: single use plastic was actually invented in 1933 by England and was used in WW2 by them in secret, the first single use plastic bag was invented in 1960s by a Swedish company, therefore your statement is wrong. The waters such as seas rivers etc are contaminated with millions of plastics, chemicals, heavy metals etc and your eating that too when you eat fish and other sea life as they ingest this into their bodies and when plastic starts decomposing it releases toxic particals which in turn you eat too. Latest research also says that there will be more plastic in the oceans that all the sea animals. Which is scary.
@Joe Mc mahon: ye didnt even like the suck on that reference? Well, thats the last straw, it really is.
@BarronVonVaderHam: at least with Nicklaus , you caught at least one fish. Nod.
@Nikas Peckeliunas: Go back to bed.
@BarronVonVaderHam: You reused Sean’s last straw.
So in 2 years we’ll be able to buy the exact same straws, only difference being they will have the word “Re-usable” on the box. Much like the way wet wipe manufacturers put “Flushable’ on the packs. Everything small enough is flushable. It’s what happens afterwards that’s the problem
@Tommy Roche: or like a lot of pubs are doing, only supplying paper straws which are better for the environment and more easily recyclable.
@Tommy Roche: Yes those baby wipes that claim on the front they are “99.999% water” but fail to point out they are about 50% plastic (polyester and viscose)
Crisp manufacturers could make a big impact by making the bags fit the amount of crisps, there’s only ever a dribble of them in the bottom. So much waste for marketing purposes.
@Alan Currie: the bags are full of nitrogen gas which keep the crisps fresh.
Another good result from the EU!!!
Wow! Just 50 years after plastic was first recognized as having a global distribution in the oceans. Is this good governance that we are supposed to be proud of?
What about the chinese take away ? No point in going to the pub and doing without your straw for your vodka and coke only to drop in to your local chinese on the way home and get a take away in two or three plastic containers !
@Ken Bramley: tell them you want no straw or ask them to look into paper straws… Many big businesses like Starbucks, Costa etc are only doing paper straws or invest in stainless steel straws and bring them with you when you go out or what i do is bring my own containers and ask them to use them instead… Sounds crazy but at least im doing my bit to reduce plastic waste
Nothing about pointless non recyclable packaging on foodstuffs and other goods? If so, this is just paying lipservice to the issue.
Glass is much harder to recycle than plastic, heavier to ship etc… It’s actually a lot worse for the environment overall. Those glass bottles don’t get re-used they are melted down at an incredible heat. What we need are proper recycling facilities, recycling bins readily available in the street and incentives to get people to properly dispose of their waste so that plastic gets recycled rather dumped or ending up in landfill.
Step 1. Hit up IKEA for the last of straws.
Step 2. ????
Step 3. PROFIT!!!
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