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Q&A European Bag Legislation
On November 21, 2014 European Institutions reached a deal on plastic bag use that was confirmed by representatives of EU Member States the same day. On November 24, the Environmental Committee of the EU Parliament also formally confirmed the law. This document summarizes questions & answers regarding the legislation. Pages quoted refer to the page numbers of the legislation.
Very lightweight plastic bags that are e.g. used for fruits and vegetables may be exempted from these measures.
Lightweight plastic bags have less than 50 microns thickness, very lightweight bags have less than 15 micron thickness, cf. p. 10.
Compostable bags (EN 13432 certified) are still allowed in Italy, independent of bag thickness.
This Italian legislation had been challenged for not being in line with existing EU legislation. But now the European Bag Legislation states that measures to reduce bag consumption in Europe may include bans or taxes, provided that these “restrictions are proportionate and non-discriminatory” (p. 11). Furthermore, the measures may vary based on the “composting properties” of bags (p.11). This means the European Union formally approves of a law as in Italy that bans PE bags but allows compostable bags. As result, Italy can impose fines for violations of its national law. So far, the lack of fines had hindered full adoption of the Italian law.
But now, the final version of the EU legislation features a sentence that member states may also take measures to reduce bag consumption “regardless of the wall thickness” of plastic bags (p.12). As result, it becomes much more difficult for opponents of the Italian law to argue that the Italian law would be illegal and against the - more powerful - EU legislation.
Yes. The Environmental Committee of the French Parliament and the Full Parliament in France have voted to ban non-home compostable fruit &vegetable bags in France from January 2016 onwards. This is covered by the EU legislation. The French Senate will vote on this French draft legislation in the week of February 9, 2015 before it can become fully established as legislation.
In the EU legislation, are a number of provisions that target to promote compostable bags, eg. a study on the life cycle of very lightweight bags or a standardized labelling of compostable bags.
The EU Parliament had asked that all very lightweight PE bags should be replaced with compostable plastic bags or paper bags. But this was rejected by the second chamber of the EU, the EU Council. However, the parties then agreed to commission an “official” life cycle study on the benefits of different lightweight bags. This should be a very good opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of very thin compostable bags for organic waste diversion. If the “official” study recognizes these benefits it is likely that the EU institutions can agree on a regulation promoting very lightweight compostable bags.
So far there had not been a legally binding ban of oxodegradable plastic bags across Europe. In December 2013, the EU agreed on a European Strategy on Plastic Waste in the Environment. That strategy set clearly the goal to ban oxodegradable plastic bags by 2020. But it is a “strategy” and therefore not legally binding for EU member states.