Why has the EU banned plastic straws and disposable products?

The law "on the ban on plastics ", adopted by the European community,  targets ten products:

• Plastic straws

• Plastic hygiene sticks

• Plastic forks, spoons and knives

• Plastic plates and other utensils

• Plastic drink stirrers

• Plastic sticks for balloons

• Plastic food containers

• Styrofoam cups

• Oxo-degradable plastic

Plastic drinking straws and environmental pollution

The wave of plastic that flooded the world started in the 1960s and has grown twentyfold since then. Today, Europe employs 1.5 million people in the plastic sector and has a turnover of € 340 billion. In Poland, the packaging market generates PLN 33.5 billion, half of which is plastic. EU experts are hoping that  introduced by  the EU "ban plastic"  stop this dangerous trend .

According to the European Commission, more than 80% of the waste in the seas and oceans is plastic, 70% of which are products from the above list. Plastic disposables are used by humans only once, by definition, and their decomposition process takes up to a thousand years. Plastic waste ends up in the seas and oceans , where it is then consumed by the marine fauna, and thus ends up in the human food chain.

Damage limitation

The long-term EU plan also envisages gradual recycling of plastic bottles. European Union Member States, including Poland, have until 2029 to achieve 90% of the collection and recycling of plastic bottles.  From 2025, new bottles will have to be made from at least 25% recycled materials, and from 2030 - 30%. Moreover, from 2025, plastic caps and lids can only be produced and sold if they are permanently attached to bottles and containers.

The EU directive also provides for the extension of the "polluter pays" principle as part of extended producer responsibility schemes. This means that the  environmental costs resulting from cleaning, transport, collection and recycling will be mainly borne by the entrepreneurs responsible for the production of a given product. This mainly applies to manufacturers of food packaging,  plastic straws , sandwich wrap, bottles, beverage cups, wet wipes, foil bags, cigarette filters and fishing nets. The deposit system is also taken into account. The consumer will pay an additional fee added to the price of the product, which will be returned to him in the store or car when the bottle or packaging is returned.

New solutions

In the opinion of Members of the European Parliament, packaging labels should also include information about the harmful impact of a given product on the environment. According to estimates, such top-down measures imposed on Member States will reduce EU spending on environmental damage remediation by € 22 billion by 2030. The  ban on the sale of plastic straws  and other single-use plastic products is expected to stimulate also the economy to look for new solutions, because as you know - the market does not like emptiness.

It is worth knowing that there is already a wide range of products on the market that successfully replace plastic straws. Drinking tubes are now also  made of renewable resources such as straw and bamboo . Another proposal are  reusable ecological straws made of special glass or metal. You can order these products in our store. Welcome!

 Since when is the ban on plastic disposables in the EU?

 What to replace disposable plastic products with?