Commission welcomes Council final adoption of new rules on single-use plastics to reduce marine plastic litter

The Council of the EU adopted the ambitious measures proposed by the Commission to tackle marine litter coming from the 10 single-use plastic products most often found on European beaches, as well as abandoned fishing gear and oxo-degradable plastics.

The rules on Single-Use Plastics items and fishing gear envisage different measures to apply to different product and place the EU at the forefront of the global fight against marine litter. Where alternatives are easily available and affordable, single-use plastic products will be banned from the market, such as cutlery, plates, and straws. For other products, the focus is on limiting their use through a national reduction in consumption; on design and labeling requirements; and waste management/clean-up obligations for producers.

First Vice-President Frans Timmermans, responsible for sustainable development said: “There is a growing sense of urgency in European society to do whatever it takes to stop plastic pollution in our oceans. The European Union is responding to this clear call of our citizens. We have taken ambitious steps by introducing concrete measures to reduce the use of single-use plastics. The new rules adopted will help us to protect the health of our people and safeguard our natural environment while promoting more sustainable production and consumption. We can all be proud that Europe is setting new and ambitious standards, paving the way for the rest of the world.”

The new rules are proportionate and tailored to get the best results. This means different measures will be applied to different products. The new rules will introduce:

• A ban on selected single-use products made of plastic for which alternatives exist on the market: cotton bud sticks, cutlery, plates, straws, stirrers, sticks for balloons, as well as cups, food and beverage containers made of expanded polystyrene and on all products made of oxo-degradable plastic.
• Measures to reduce consumption of food containers and beverage cups made of plastic and specific marking and labeling of certain products.
• Extended Producer Responsibility schemes covering the cost to clean-up litter, applied to products such as tobacco filters and fishing gear.
• A 90% separate collection target for plastic bottles by 2029 (77% by 2025) and the introduction of design requirements to connect caps to bottles, as well as target to incorporate 25% of recycled plastic in PET bottles as from 2025 and 30% in all plastic bottles as from 2030.

The new decision by the Council of the EU will be followed by the publication of the texts in the Official Journal of the European Union. The Directive will enter into force 20 days after the publication. The Member States will then have two years to transpose the legislation into their national law.

Original source: European Commission
Published on 21 May 2019