MEPs Vote to Ban Single-use Plastics
The European Parliament has voted 571 against 53 (with 54 abstentions) for an EU-wide plan to completely ban a raft of single-use plastics in a bid to stop marine pollution.
According to the European Commission, which drafted the legislation last spring, the targeted products – including lost fishing gear and the 10 single-use plastic products most widely found on European shores – together account for 70% of marine litter.
Items such as plates, cutlery, straws, stirrers and cotton buds will be banned from 2021, as will products made of oxo-degradable plastics, such as bags, packaging and fast-food containers made of expanded PS.
The use of several other items such as burger and sandwich boxes, or containers for fruits/vegetables and desserts, will have to be reduced by 25% by 2025. Other plastic products, such as drinks bottles, will have to be collected and recycled at a rate of 90% by 2025.
MEPs also agreed to impose waste reduction measures on cigarette butts and fishing gear. Cigarette butts are the second most littered single-use plastic item, according to the Commission, taking up to 12 years to disintegrate. Member states must cut waste from cigarette filters by 50% up to 2025 and 80% by 2030, also ensuring that tobacco companies cover the costs of collecting the waste, including transport and treatment.
Individual countries should also ensure that they collect at least 50% of lost or abandoned fishing gear that contains plastic, toward a recycling target of at least 15% by 2025. Producers of the plastic fishing gear, which accounts for 27% of waste found on Europe’s beaches, must also contribute to the costs of collection and recycling.
Rapporteur Frederique Ries commented: “We have adopted the most ambitious legislation against single-use plastics. It is up to us now to stay the course in the upcoming negotiations with the Council, due to start as early as November.”
He noted that the costs of environmental damage from plastic pollution in Europe are estimated to reach €22 billion by 2030.
