European Parliament Environment Committee backs draft rules to reduce consumption of plastic bags

EU states would have to reduce the consumption of most common and polluting plastic bags by 80% by 2019, under draft rules backed by the Environment. To this end, MEPs recommend using economic instruments such as taxes and levies, marketing restrictions or bans.
Plastic carrier bag litter is a major environmental concern, known to affect water bodies and aquatic eco-systems in particular. Swiftly phasing-out these bags is a very low-hanging fruit on the list of solutions to the problem of plastic waste in the environment, said MEP Margrete Auken. The text will be put to a vote at the 14-17 April plenary session in Strasbourg (Press Release European Parliament, 11 March 2014).
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