Germany Announces Ban on All Plastic Bags Effective 2022

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The German government announced its decision to introduce complete ban on all plastic bags with effect from 2022. Late last month, the country had introduced a ban on single-use plastic carryout bags at malls, stores and supermarkets. The move is aimed at reducing plastic pollution in the country, so as to meet the ambitious goals set by the EU to reduce plastic bag pollution by 80% by 2025.

The retailers in the country have less than a year to get rid of their plastic bag stocks. The small shop owners in the country have urged the government to reconsider the decision, saying that the stock of bags with them could not be exhausted with this short period of time. The government should either compensate them for the losses or postpone the decision for a longer period, they said.

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However, critics of the ban noted that the focus of the ban in wrong. According to them, only less than 1% of the plastics produced in the country are used for single-use plastic bags, which clearly suggests that the problem is elsewhere. Meantime, the government authorities claimed that the proposed ban would yield positive environmental benefits.

Incidentally, Germany is Europe’s largest producer of plastic bags. The country consumes nearly 2 billion plastic bags every year. Other European countries such as Austria, France and Italy have a ban already in place.