Reduce plastic pollution

Plastic pollution is becoming an ever-larger problem; people have to change habits trying to improve them.

European Parliament and the former Austrian Council presidency have reached a provisional agreement on the directive on single-use plastics (SUP) and the agreement will now be submitted to the Parliament’s plenary before being officially adopted by the Council in March.

The SUP directive requires Member States to set national targets/programs in order to reduce the consumption of the 10 most commonly found items littering European beaches and prohibit the sale of any products made from oxo-degradable plastics and certain single-use plastic products.

Furthermore, it also requires Member States to set up EPR schemes for certain single-use plastic products. The EPR schemes would cover the costs of awareness raising campaigns and cleaning up litter from specific items.

The directive would also set ambitious recycling targets by weight for beverage bottles: 77% by 2025 and 90% by 2029.

Source: www.consilium.europa.eu