Plastic is a material full of qualities but yet unloved. During the COVID19 pandemic which began in 2020, the hygienic nature of plastic was brought back to light, but it remains a material poorly considered from an environmental point of view by public opinion, a little bit schizophrenic since it hates the packaging it uses on a daily basis and which protects his health. To save turtles and more generally to reduce marine and land pollution caused by plastics and also to protect the health of citizens once morest additives which can be harmful, the European Union authorizes, and even sometimes obliges, Member States to limit, or even ban the use of plastic.
Identifying the products concerned by the anti-plastic measures amounts to compiling a list à la Prévert where, among the banned products, we find in particular light plastic bags (thickness of less than 50 microns) unless they are compostable, as well as straws , cups, plates, cutlery and stirrers if they are entirely made of plastic, or food boxes and glasses for fast food made of expanded polystyrene. Still banned are plastic warming dishes, non-compostable labels, oxodegradable plastics, microbeads in cosmetics. Similarly, water should no longer be offered free of charge in plastic bottles in establishments open to the public and in businesses.
These bans span a decade from 2016 to 2026.
Due to the principle of free trade within the single European market, restrictions on the use of plastic and bans are exceptional rules. What is not expressly prohibited remains authorized. R&D therefore remains essential to find alternative solutions, particularly for the “compostable home” outside of industrial units.
Some products escape the ban because even with plastic (or even thanks to plastic) they offer essential services: intimate hygiene products, wet wipes for the body or maintenance, tobacco products and cups. However, we want to prevent people from throwing them away because they often don’t know that these products contain plastic. Europe has imposed since July 3, 2021 a pictogram representing a turtle in danger in the sea because of these products. A very ugly logo to make people disgusted with plastic.
Marketing departments are also in the crosshairs: now it is forbidden to claim the compostability of a plastic product if it is not “home compostable” and we can no longer generally praise the virtuous nature for the environment of its product; contact with specific allegations.
Note: this article exposes the antiplastic measures as they appear in European and French laws without approval or disapproval on the part of the author and the publisher.
Warning: the provisions of the Environmental Code relating to packaging and the circular economy have been subject to permanent changes every year since 2015 and in particular with the anti-waste and circular economy law of February 10, 2020, known as the AGEC law. , which spreads the entry into force of its reforms over several years. The rules explained in this article of the Techniques of the engineer are up to date on July 4, 2021 for their application on July 3, 2021, if they were not already in force on this date.
