• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Saturday, June 3, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home World

EU Parliament Approves Ban on Single-Use Plastics

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
10/24/18
in World
EU flag

Flag of the European Union Photo: AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly Wednesday for an E.U.-wide ban on single-use plastics such as straws, stirrers, cotton swabs and balloon sticks.

The European Commission, the 28-nation E.U.’s executive arm, proposed banning such items that it said account for 70 percent of the waste in the oceans and beaches.

“Today we are one step closer to eliminating the most problematic single-use plastic products in Europe,” the E.U.’s environment commissioner Karmenu Vella said.

The European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, voted for the ban on single-use plastic by 571 votes for, 53 against and 34 abstentions.

The legislation which supporters want to take effect by 2021 must still be approved in negotiations involving the member states, parliament and the commission.

The WWF said the vote put “the E.U. on track as a global leader in reducing plastic pollution and pioneering stronger circular economies.”

However, it said the parliament missed an opportunity to close a legal loophole on the definition of single-use plastics, adding it allows products to be labeled re-usable when they may not be.

The manufacturers’ associations PlasticsEurope said the measures are “disproportionate,” adding bans discourage investment needed to develop ways to recycle plastics.

Like WWF, it said single-use plastics definitions remain “ambiguous.”

The parliament said its ban across the E.U. targets single-use cutlery, cotton buds, straws and stirrers, which were on the commission’s original list of 10 items.

MEPs added polystyrenes used to wrap fast-food and oxo-plastics, such as bags that have been touted as biodegradable but which break up into tiny particles.

The legislation calls for plastic items where no alternatives are available to be reduced by at least 25 percent by 2025.

‘Most Ambitious Legislation’

Under the ban, drinks bottles and other plastics will have to be collected separately and recycled at a rate of 90 percent by 2025.

The legislation calls for reducing waste from tobacco products, especially cigarette filters containing plastic, by 50 percent by 2025 and 80 percent by 2030.

Cigarette butts can take up to 12 years to disintegrate when thrown on a road, the parliament said.

It calls for member states to ensure that tobacco firms cover the costs of waste collection for those products.

The bill calls on member countries to ensure that at least 50 percent of lost or abandoned fishing gear containing plastic is collected annually.

It calls for recycling at least 15 percent of fishing gear – which accounts for 27 percent of the litter on Europe’s beaches – by 2025.

Producers of fishing gear containing plastic will also need to assume the cost of collecting litter and help meet the recycling target.

Frederique Ries, member of the liberal ALDE party, said the bill he steered through parliament is “the most ambitious legislation against single-use plastics.”

He added “it is up to us now to stay the course in the upcoming negotiations with” the E.U. member states, which could start next month.

He said the legislation is needed to protect the environment and cut damage from plastics that will rise to an estimated 22 billion euros by 2030.

The European Commission has said businesses will benefit from one set of rules for an E.U. market of around 500 million people.

It said it will encourage E.U. companies to develop economies of scale and become more competitive in the “booming” global market for sustainable products.

The EU push to crack down on plastic use follows China’s decision to ban imports of foreign waste products for recycling.

EU Says that Rejection of Refugee Quotas Would be ‘Unacceptable’

Share4Tweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

US President Donald Trump speaks on his administration's response to the coronavirus.
Featured

Europe Furious Over Trump’s Unilateral Travel Ban

by Staff Writer
March 12, 2020
Afghan refugees in Greece
Featured

Greece Has ‘Secret Site’ for Migrant Pushbacks: Report

by Staff Writer
March 11, 2020
Migrants and refugees look on after minor clashes with Greek policemen occurred at a makeshift camp at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni, Greece, March 2016
Featured

No ‘Legal Basis’ for Greece to Suspend Asylum: UNHCR

by Staff Writer
March 2, 2020
Scottish independence activists rally to call for a second referendum, 2016.
Featured

UK PM Warned of Court Battle Over Scottish Independence Vote

by Staff Writer
February 10, 2020
Scottish independence activists rally to call for a second referendum, 2016.
Featured

Scottish Leader Vows to Step Up Independence Push Post-Brexit

by Staff Writer
January 31, 2020
EU and British flags fly near Westminster, London.
Featured

What Will Change the Day After Brexit?

by Staff Writer
January 27, 2020
Next Post
US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Saudi Arabia's King Salman during a May 2017 ceremony in Riyadh

US Needs Strategic Balance in Dealing with Saudi Arabia and Iran

British Prime Minister Theresa May in front of flags of the European Union (EU)

As Brexit Negotiations Drag On, May’s Red Lines Become Less Palatable

Recommended

A man holds US, Taiwan flags

US and Taiwan Ink Trade Deal as China Issues Warning

June 2, 2023
Migrants waiting at the Turkish border.

Beyond Numbers: Confronting Europe’s Broken Border System

May 30, 2023
A noose is seen on makeshift gallows as supporters of US President Donald Trump gather on the West side of the US Capitol in Washington DC on January 6, 2021

Militia Leader Gets 18 Years in Prison Over US Capitol Attack

May 26, 2023
Customers queue to enter a re-opened Zara clothes shop

EU Targets Fast Fashion in Push for Durable Goods

May 23, 2023
A billboard showing the debt limit is seen in Washington, D.C.

US Republicans Upbeat on Prospects for Debt Deal

May 19, 2023
Military hardware rolls through Dvortsovaya Square during a Victory Day military parade in central Saint Petersburg

Pressing Russia, US Shares Nuclear Warhead Data Under Treaty

May 16, 2023

Opinion

Migrants waiting at the Turkish border.

Beyond Numbers: Confronting Europe’s Broken Border System

May 30, 2023
A man holding a gun

The NRA’s Continuing Agenda of Fear

May 12, 2023
US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas

A Supreme Folly 

April 24, 2023
Transgender Army veteran Tanya Walker speaks to protesters in Times Square near a military recruitment centre

Tennessee Is A Drag on the First Amendment

March 26, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping

China’s Path to Economic Dominance

March 15, 2023
An earthquake survivor reacts as rescuers look for victims and other survivors in Hatay, a Turkish province where hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the earthquake

Heed the Call of Our Broken World

March 1, 2023
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post