In an effort to curb the annual consumption of an estimated 100 bn plastic carrier bags in Europe, the European Commission (EC) adopted a proposal on 4 November which requires member states to take measures which will lead to a reduction including setting national targets, placing bans taxing or charging for the items. The EC is particularly interested in targeting a cutback in lightweight plastics bags, which, it says, are often only used once but persist in the environment for "hundreds" of years.

The proposal amends the almost 20-year-old "Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive", which the European Union created with the goal of harmonising national measures regarding the management of packaging and packaging waste to provide a high level of environmental protection and ensure the functioning of the internal market.

Now, member states are going to be required to reduce consumption of plastic carrier bags with a thickness of less than 50 microns, which are less frequently re-used than thicker ones and often end up as litter. The other change to the 1994 directive is allowing member states to determine the types of measures used to achieve the broad goals such as the use of charges for the bags or the use of marketing restrictions, provided they do not come into conflict with internal EU market rules. According to the EC, some countries have already been using some of these approaches to great effect and after extensive public consultations, it was clear there was broad support for an EU-wide initiative to tackle the growing problems brought about by the carrier bags. The aim is to bring about stronger action in all 28 EU states but still falls short of an EU-wide ban.

"We are taking action to solve a very serious and highly visible environmental problem. Every year, more than 8 billion plastic bags end up as litter in Europe, causing enormous environmental damage," noted Janez Potocnik, the EU's environment commissioner. He added that if other member states took the actions to the levels being undertaken in some countries, overall consumption in the EU could be reduced by as much as 80%.

The EC states that in 2010, close to 99 bn plastic carrier bags were on the EU market, which averages to every EU citizen using 198 bags annually. The vast majority of the bags in circulation were the lightweight ones. Consumption figures vary greatly among member states with annual use per capita of lightweight plastic carrier bags ranging between an estimated four bags in Denmark and Finland and 466 bags in Poland, Portugal and the Slovak Republic.

The proposal now needs the approval of the member states as well as the European Parliament. Next, the national governments will be given a deadline to implement tougher regulations and laws. The proposal includes no percentages, nor specific targets. However, the initial directive, which has been amended three times – in 2004, 2005 and 2009 – since going into force in December 1994, did provide a specific set of targets for its then members and provided extensions to countries joining the EU afterwards.