Poly Bags | Wicketed Bags | Plastic bags | Excellent Poly Blog
Poly Mailers, Newspaper Bags, Header Bags, Plastic Bags and more!
Italy Bans Polyethylene Bags
What a way to start off the New Year. Starting January 1, Italy will ban the use of polyethylene plastic bags by retailers. According to Italian critics, “polyethylene bags use too much oil to produce, take too long to break down, clog drains and easily spread to become eyesores and environmental hazards.”
Italians use approximately 20 billion bags per year — roughly 330 per person — a number that accounts for nearly 1/5 of plastic bag-use in Europe.
Starting on Saturday, retailers will still be able to give out plastic bags — they just can’t be polyethylene. Biodegradable plastic, cloth or paper are acceptable materials. Other European countries have tried voluntary schemes to cut plastic bag use, like promoting reusable cotton bags. In 2002 Ireland imposed a levy on bags of 15 euro cents (20 U.S. cents) that cut use by a startling 90 percent within a week.
According to Legambiente scientific chief Stefano Ciafani, this shift is merely an extension of a “revolution that is already under way.” Two hundred municipalities out of Italy’s 8,000 have introduced their own plastic bag bans, and many supermarket chains have started using biodegradable bags for shoppers even if not on a nationwide basis, he added.
What do you think of this new ban?
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.Posted on: Wednesday, December 29th, 2010 at 12:17 pm
Posted in: poly bags
Tags: bread bags, die cut handle bags, header bags, newspaper bags, plastic bag manufacturer, plastic bags, plastic manufacturer, poly bags, poly mailers, printed plastic bags, self seal bags, staple packs, tape bags, wicketed bags