EU provisionally bans single-use plastic

Posted by Imogen Searra on 28 January 2019

The European Union (EU) has made a decision to provisionally ban single-use plastic products in a groundbreaking decision. This agreement will hopefully have a significant impact on decreassing plastic pollution.

The directive is part of the European Plastic Strategy and was signed by The Council and the European Parliament.

Restrictions have been placed on the use of plastic cutlery, plastic plates and plastic straws and other plastic products like plastic cotton bud sticks and expanded polystyrene. By 2021 the products will be completely removed from Europe. The goal of the directive is environmental sustainability by reducing marine pollution, as these items make up 70% of all marine pollution items according to the European Commission.

 

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has announced that in 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish, if drastic measures aren’t taken.

Large plastic pieces are detrimental to the ocean and its marine life, polluting and killing endangered and non endangered species alike. In the Mediterranean sea specifically, the concentration of micro-plastics is increasing at an alarming rate of 1.25 million fragments per km². These micro-plastic fragments are then ending up inside fish and other sea creatures, which are caught and consumed by humans.

Also read: Why tiny microbeads are a huge problem

 

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We had to kick this project off with plastic bottles. These are by far and away the most common object washed ashore. Bottles or just hundreds and hundreds of bottle tops. We found out that a million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute. That’s around 20,000 a second! 😱 Luckily for us there are some GREAT alternatives out there. Long lasting bottles in many sizes, that can keep your water hot or cold for hours on end. Some favourites we found are: -KLEAN KANTEEN. This bottle claims a whopping 20 hours of hot water and 50 hours of cold water! It also can be used with a number of different lids for sports etc. #kleankanteen @kleankanteen -CHILLYS. 12 hours hot and 24 hours cold, they come in an incredible range of colours. #chillysbottles @chillysbottles -24BOTTLES. Super lightweight bottles, 24 hours cold and 24 hours hot. #24bottles @24bottles_official -For something different look out for Ayurvedic COPPER WATER BOTTLES which claim to give the water detoxifying and antibacterial qualities. @tamra_uk has some (we actually know the owner of this business but I promise this isn’t a sneaky promotion we just think they’re BEAUTIFUL!) #copperwaterbottle The products we suggest are found through simple consumer research and this is by no means a comprehensive study! We hope it’s helpful though. 🙂 Any other suggestions PLEASE add them below! Let’s make a space to share our resources. #plasticfree #sustainableliving #saveourseas #savetheturtles #singleuseplastic #singleusesucks #singleuseplasticsucks #singleuseplastics #nomoreplastic

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“We have adopted the most ambitious legislation against single-use plastics,” Frédérique Ries, the MEP who proposed the bill, said in a statement. “It is essential in order to protect the marine environment and reduce the costs of environmental damage attributed to plastic pollution in Europe, estimated at 22 billion euros by 2030.”

If you are looking for alternative items that will help reduce your own personal single-use plastic use, start off by swapping out the plastic straw for a sustainable straw-alternative. Here are a few recommendations for plastic straw alternatives.

The movement toward eco-bricking has also gained major momentum. South Africans are filling two-liter bottles with household, single use plastics. The EcoBricks are then dropped off at collection points and are then used to build classrooms and other up-cycled structures. Read about items that can be used in EcoBricks and the stats behind the benefits here.

Image source: Instagram: @tozerowasteliving

 

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