Germany's government has signed an agreement with the retail industry to curb the use of plastic bags. A key part of the plan is getting retailers to stop giving away bags for free.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Pleul
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Under Tuesday's deal, customers in German shops and department stores can expect to pay higher fees for plastic bags from July 1. The change also means that retailers offering free bags will gradually be much harder to find.
However, the agreement, cemented by Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks and Trade Association President Josef Sanktjohanser in Berlin, is not legally binding and allows companies to join voluntarily.
As a first step, the plan is to have a price on 80 percent of plastic bags by 2018. Sanktjohanser said 260 retail companies have committed to the initiative, which aims to ultimately deter customers from using plastic bags.
The bags in question are the thicker variety given out in department and clothing stores, while flimsy plastic bags often used in fresh produce shops will remain free.
An EU-wide effort
The consumption of plastic bags varies greatly across the European Union, but on average each person uses just under 200 bags per year. The EU wants to see that number drop to 90 bags per person by 2019, and to 40 per person by 2025.
Germans use around 70 bags per person each year. That's one reason why the government has opted against implementing a law to reduce plastic use. Environment Minister Hendricks said instead the ministry would monitor progress very closely to see "how well the agreement with retailers is implemented."
She added that the situation would be reassessed in two years, and the ministry would consider abandoning the agreement and taking its own action in the event that the plan fails.
Deadly plastics
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Under the agreement with retailers, companies have the freedom to set the cost of their plastic bags. Environment groups have been critical of the deal, accusing the government of pandering to the needs of businesses by making commitments voluntary instead of legally binding.
500-year lifespan
According to Germany's Federal Environment Agency, 30 million tons of plastic end up in the world's oceans each year.
Plastic bags need an estimated 500 years to disintegrate, which means they are constantly building up in the envionment.
Hundreds of thousands of birds, sea turtles, fish and marine mammals die annually from ingestion or entanglement in plastic debris. Tons of microplastics have been found in the stomachs of marine animals, and much of it eventually ends up on our plates.
Not all bags are created equal
Whether it’s a tote made from organic cotton, or a paper sack: there are any number of alternatives to using a disposable plastic bag for shopping. Here we highlight a few of them.
Image: DUH
Plastic ain’t fantastic
A few bananas here, a couple of apples there – it’s just so easy to use more and more plastic bags as we do our grocery shopping. On average, Germans use 71 plastic bags per person per year. The fact is, we don’t need to rely on bags made of one hundred percent plastic that can’t be recycled. There are plenty of environment friendly alternatives.
Image: Fotolia/pizzicati
Hands off!
The common disposable plastic bag is anything but environmentally friendly. They’re made almost entirely of polyethylene plastic - a fossil oil derivative - which takes between 400 and 500 years to completely decay. That is way too long, says the EU Commission, and they’re demanding action.
Image: Fotolia/rdnzl
Bio not always better
A biodegradable plastic bag consisting of 70 percent crude oil and 30 percent biofuel sounds OK, but this kind of plastic can only be recycled a few times. Moreover, the cultivation of biofuel is very costly and also environmentally questionable.
Image: picture-alliance/ZB
High recycled content alone is not enough
There are disposable plastic bags made from 70 percent recycled polyethylene. In eco-jargon, their “Life-cycle assessment” (LCA) is better than most. That is, the number of times these bags can be recycled is higher than most. But most Germans don’t think to recycle these bags, so the benefit is lost.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
More bad than good
From an environmental perspective, paper bags are not necessarily better than plastic bags. To make these bags strong enough that your groceries won’t fall through the bottom, a lot of chemicals are needed to produce particularly long and tear-resistant cellulose fibers. Recycled paper, on the other hand, is an improvement.
Image: PA/dpa
Disadvantages, where you least expect
Fabric totes made from organic cotton, hemp, or flax can be used more often and thereby protect the environment. But the production of sturdy totes are more mineral and energy intensive than plastic bags. What’s more, given they are derived from plants, their cultivation requires a lot of water and arable land, like biofuels.
Image: Fotolia/Robert Kneschke
Better than its reputation
Sturdy, reusable plastics totes (polypropylene, polyester or polyterephthalate) are no worse than their fabric counterparts. A reusable tote bag made of polypropylene after three uses is more environmentally friendly than a disposable bag made of polyethylene.
Image: DUH
And the winner is...
An eco-friendly reusable product is a bag made of polyester. These bags fold up no larger than a mini-pack of tissues. They’re approximately 30 grams lighter than many disposable plastic bags and they can carry up to 4 kilograms.