European supermarkets under fire in new research
Large European supermarkets can and should do much more to reduce their plastic usage.
Banning plastic bags causes undesirable side effect
Europe wants to drastically reduce the number of plastic bags in the battle against the plastic soup. In 2010, an estimated 198 plastic bags were used per capita per year. That number must be reduced to 90 in 2019 and to 40 in 2025. EU member states are free to choose their own methods to meet this goal.
Distributing free plastic bags will be forbidden in the Netherlands beginning on January 1, 2016. In 2002 Ireland introduced a fee of 22 cents per plastic bag in stores, which led to a 90% reduction in their use. Because of this, Ireland is often cited as a shining example of how to address the issue of single-use plastic bags.
The Irish measure sounds like a success, but, on closer inspection, the fee may have caused an undesirable side effect.
Katrijn, who immigrated to Ireland last June, wrote to the PSF: “It is indeed striking that there are fewer bags, but unfortunately that does not result in less plastic. Now almost any vegetable is wrapped separately in plastic. In all, there seems to be more plastic instead of less.”
The lesson from Ireland is that elimination of plastic bags is to be welcomed, but must not lead to more plastic packaging. Without a policy aimed at a general reduction of plastic and prevention of undesired side effects, the banning of plastic bags could be qualified as symbolic politics.
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