France recently took one step forward to ensure ecological consciousness and became the first eco-friendly country with a new law that bans the use of plastic cutlery, cups, plates and plastic bags. The law, which recently took effect, was suggested by the Europe Ecologie-Greens Party to be a part of the Energy Transition For Green Growth and was accepted in 2015.

The law is planned to increase energy savings, which otherwise would have been used to produce plastic; it costs billions to have this luxury. Plastic containers are a big problem, especially after big events, marching, and parties and even after the basic family picnics.

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According to law, producer companies of plastic food packaging and disposal cup, plate, and cutlery have time until 2020 to make sure and prove that their products are made by eco-friendly, biologically sourced materials, which could be composted.

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The law took opposite responses from manufacturers, like Pack2Go, saying that the law is against o the rules for free movement of goods. They also claimed that there is no proof if the bio-sourced products are more beneficial or not.

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Europe Secretary General Eamonn Bates of the Brussels Based Company Pack2Go spoke to Associated Press that they will fight against to the law.

"We are urging the European Commission to do the right thing and to take legal action against France for infringing European law. If they don't, we will. Also, the ban will be understood by consumers to mean that it is OK to leave this packaging behind in the countryside after use because it's easily biodegradable in nature. That's nonsense! It may even make the litter problem worse."

The opposite responses are surely expected by the government. However, when we compare the benefits of the law, there is a huge list, which proves the benefits of the law.

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First of all, some of the components in plastic alter the hormones and some of the chemicals absorb the human body and affect health, in a bad way. We are only recover 5% of the plastic we produce and 50% of products are used just once then thrown away.

Some people might complain about this luxury that has been taken away from them. It won’t be possible to use plastic picnic stuff anymore. However, even if people are not throwing away their plastic garbage, the producing process of plastic they use is killing the natural environment day by day.

[Image Source: Pixabay]

There is a big challenge to recycle the plastic, generally made by petroleum. Typically the workers of recycling plants sort the plastic by looking at the resin identification code. Most of the plastic bottles and bags are made from non-recyclable kinds of plastic, which causes additional problems to sorting. When they are incinerated, it increases carbon emissions; if it is placed in a landfill, it becomes a carbon sink. Even biodegradable plastics are causing methane emissions. The world will have to wait and see what the proper solution will be.

Via: Associated Press

Written by Tamar Melike Tegün