The European Bioplastics says that it supports the imposition of a levy or tax on oil-based plastic bags or a complete ban. The association has published its latest position paper on shopping bags, ahead of the forthcoming European Commission proposal on single use plastic bags announced by Commissioner Janez Potocnik. It adds that shopping bags containing at least 50% biobased content should generally be exempted from the ban or tax. And in countries where organic waste is recovered and organically recycled, compostable shopping bags compliant to EN 13432 containing at least 50% biobased content should also be exempted from the ban or tax.

Bioplastic bags will become a symbol of a resource efficient and circular economy , says Fran ois de Bie, Chairman of European Bioplastics, adding that plastic shopping bags with a high biobased content ensure a considerably lower carbon footprint than oil-based bags and help to reduce CO2 emissions. Meanwhile, compostable plastic shopping bags offer a secondary use as biowaste bags and also help to increase the amount of biowaste collected and improve the quality of compost in countries where organic waste collection is in place, says the association.

The association says it recognises that an overall reduction in the consumption of plastic shopping bags will play an important role in increasing resource efficiency and moving Europe towards a more sustainable economy. The European Bioplastics position paper on shopping bags is available at: http://en.european-bioplastics.org/EuBP_PositionPaper_Plastic_shopping_bags.pdf