The European Union (EU) introduced new restrictions on Tuesday on certain single-use plastic products in an effort to reduce marine litter from sea and land.
NEW BAN ON PLASTIC USE
Under the new rules, single-use plastic plates, cutlery, straws, balloon sticks and cotton buds will be banned by 2021.
Member states agreed to achieve a 90 percent collection target for plastic bottles by 2029. Plastic bottles will have to contain at least 25 percent of recycled content by 2025 and 30 percent by 2030.
“To focus efforts where they are most needed, this directive should cover only those single-use plastic products that are found the most on beaches in the Union as well as fishing gear containing plastic and products made from oxo-degradable plastic,” the council said.
The single-use plastic products under the directive are estimated to represent around 86 percent of the single-use plastics found, in counts, on beaches in the EU.
Previously, talks with the European Parliament ended in a provisional agreement on Dec. 19, 2018, which was confirmed by EU ambassadors of the member states on Jan. 18, 2019.