The European Parliament has voted in favour of curbing the use of thin plastic bags in the European Union by 50 per cent by 2017 and 80 per cent by 2019.
The new law will apply to lightweight plastic bags that are thinner than 50 microns, which are deemed the most polluting form of bag.
They are the type of bag most prone to littering and easily break apart, causing damage to the environment, in particular ocean wildlife.
The draft laws call for EU countries to first reduce their consumption of the bags by 50 per cent by 2017, compared to 2010 figures.
EU politicians recommended using taxes and levies, marketing restrictions and bans to curb their use, preventing shops from giving bags out for free.
The draft rules exclude very light bags, used to wrap loose foods, such as raw meat, fish and dairy products.
Some 100 billion plastic bags are used every year within the EU and an estimated eight billion end up as litter that turns up in Europe’s seas.
The stomachs of 94 per cent of all birds in the North Sea contain plastic, according to figures from the European Commission.
Environmental groups welcomed the vote, but representatives of the European plastics industry were critical.
“MEPs have today voted to significantly strengthen draft EU rules aimed at reducing plastic bag use and waste, notably to include obligatory European reduction targets and a requirement that plastic bags come at a cost,” said Margrete Auken, a Danish Green MEP, who is charged with steering the legislation through the Parliament.
A strong majority of MEPs, 539, voted in favour of her report, which is based on the European Commission’s proposal released in November.
Plastic bag use varies significantly across member states.
In Denmark, where they are taxed, the average person uses four single-use bags a year, the lowest in the European Union.
Meanwhile 466 plastic bags are used for each person in Portugal, Poland and Slovakia, according to EC figures.
Janez Potocnik, the European commissioner for the environment directorate, which drafted the original proposals, said the aim of the proposal was to tackle “an emblematic issue of our consumer society”.
The directorate is working on separate measures to tackle the environmental problems associated with other forms of plastic.
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