The São Paulo state government in Brazil plans to ban the use of plastic bags in supermarkets by the end of this year. Under an agreement signed earlier this month by the state government and the Paulista Association of Supermarkets (APAS), supermarkets will stop distributing the bags and instead sell bags that are biodegradable or reusable.

The move has been criticised by plastics associations, including Plastivida (São Paulo; www.plastivida.org.br), a national industry association which promotes the responsible use of plastics. In a joint statement, Plastivida, the National Plastics Institute (INP; www.inp.org.br) and Brazilian flexible plastic packaging industry association ABIEF (www.abief.com.br) said consumers should not be penalised unnecessarily through charges for plastic bags. It is not the plastic bags themselves that are causing the environmental problems but their incorrect disposal, they stated. This problem needs to be addressed by educating people about how to use, re-use and dispose of the bags.

In Brazil, plastic shopping bags are widely re-used as rubbish bags and, therefore, have an important secondary function, they added. Italy was the first European country to impose a ban on plastic shopping bags. The country banned non-biodegradable, single-use bags in January 2011 – see Plasteurope.com of 05.01.2011. The ruling has been widely accepted by Italian consumers, and biodegradable bags are available across the country.