On 6 November 2019, on the proposal of Germany’s environment minister Svenja Schulze, the German cabinet launched a ban on certain plastic bags. The plans for the ban announced in September in Berlin were at that time sharply criticised by Germany’s plastic packaging industry association Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen (IK, Bad Homburg; www.kunststoffverpackungen.de) – see Plasteurope.com of 11.09.2019. The German association for secondary raw materials and waste disposal, bvse (Bonn; www.bvse.de), rigorously rejects Schulze’s draft. “We suspect that this decision is nothing but gesture politics,” said bvse managing director Eric Rehbock.

The waste association argues that plastic carrier bags have already been optimised regarding material consumption and carrying capacity so that the principle of avoidance within circular economy legislation is already being consistently implemented. Experience has also shown that plastic bags are frequently used several times for shopping, so that multiple use has become common practice.

The draft legislation that aims to ban plastic bags with a thickness of less than 50 micrometres, provides for exceptions only for the ultra-thin bags used for fruit and vegetables. At present, per capita consumption in Germany is around 20 plastic bags a year. Through the ban, the environment minister wants to bring the figure down to zero. This would then also apply to retailers who have so far not signed up to a voluntary agreement. A violation of the ban can, according to the draft, be regarded as a breach of the law and involve a fine of up to EUR 100,000.

Shortly before the summer Olympic Games in July 2020, supermarkets and small shops in Japan are to introduce charges for plastic bags, according to local media. The fee has not been fixed because retailers will decide this themselves. With the introduction of this measure, the Japanese government wants to persuade consumers to use their own bags when they go shopping.

In a global comparison, Japan is only exceeded by the US when it comes to the per capita consumption regarding plastics waste – see Plasteurope.com of 27.09.2019. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP, Nairobi / Kenya; www.unep.org), 66% of countries have similar rules to stem the consumption of plastic carrier bags, while their production and importation are completely banned in more than 60 countries.