EU moves to ban single-use plastics

Travel, and daily life, will soon start to look different as many of the plastic items to go with travel and convenience food start to fall under European Union bans approved by the European Parliament.

By a vote of 573 to 53, the Parliament moved the proposals on for negotiations between the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, and the member states. The moves come as reports pile up of how much plastic pollution is affecting Europe’s rivers, seas and landscape. 

The first focus of the plans is to ban those items that already have reasonable alternatives with less environmental impact. Those include cutlery, straws, plates, drinks stirrers, balloon sticks and polystyrene fast food containers.

Fishing gear turns out to be a surprisingly large issue, with abandoned lines and gear making up a quarter of the continent’s beach waste. The plans call for member states to collect at least 50% of the gear, and to recycle at least 15% of it by 2025. Other goals include reducing plastic food containers by 25% and ensuring that at least 90% of plastic drinks bottles are collected and recycled.

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6 years ago

Why is this a waste of taxes??? … and why do you focus your attention on shipping?

6 years ago

Just another example of the European Parliament wasting my taxes on a Worldwide problem. The 25% of plastic waste is a good clue to the origin of the problem.

Shipping. Cruise ships, cargo ships and container carriers have a choice to make. Pay to have the trash removed in port. Or dump it at sea while they are still off the Radar.

 

 

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