European Commission adopts proposal that requires Member States to reduce use of lightweight plastic carrier bags

06-Nov-13

The European Commission has adopted a proposal that requires its 28 Member States to reduce their use of lightweight plastic carrier bags. However, the EC has not laid out rigid guidelines as to how each Member State will do so and has given the flexibility to every Member States to design the measures they deem most effective, taking into account existing best practices. Under the proposal, Member States can choose whatever measures they find most appropriate to meet this requirement, including charges, national reduction targets or a total ban. Technically, the Commission’s proposal amends the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive with two main elements: First, Member States are required to adopt measures to reduce the consumption of plastic carrier bags with a thickness below 50 microns, as these are less frequently reused than thicker ones, and often end up as litter. Second, these measures may include the use of economic instruments, such as charges, national reduction targets, and marketing restrictions – subject to the internal market rules of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU.