EP seals ban on throwaway plastics by 2021

In Hungary

The European Parliament has approved a new law banning single-use plastic items, europarl.europa.eu reported. Some 560 MEPs voted in favor of the agreement, with 35 against and 28 abstentions.

The following products will be banned in the EU by 2021: single-use plastic cutlery, plates, straws, cotton bud sticks, balloon sticks and oxo-degradable plastics and food containers and expanded polystyrene cups.

Member states will have to achieve a 90% collection target for plastic bottles by 2029, and plastic bottles will have to contain at least 25% recycled content by 2025, and 30% by 2030.

According to the European Commission, more than 80% of marine litter consists of plastics. The products covered by this new law constitute 70% of all marine litter items.

Due to its slow rate of decomposition, plastic accumulates in seas, oceans and on beaches in the EU and worldwide. Plastic residue is found in marine species, such as sea turtles, seals, whales and birds, but also in fish and shellfish, and therefore in the human food chain, europarl.europa.eu noted.

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