Plastic bags: Federal Council seals ban from 2022

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Shopping with plastic bags: In the future, consumers should use cardboard and reusable bags

Photo: Bernd Wüstneck / DPA

They are practical, but ecologically questionable: From January 2022, plastic bags will now be finally banned at checkouts in Germany.

The Federal Council approved the law in Berlin on Friday.

Previously, the grand coalition in the Bundestag had extended the transition period for business by six to twelve months.

Official German speaks of “lightweight plastic carrier bags with a wall thickness between 15 and 50 micrometers”.

This means the standard bags that you get when you go shopping.

Exceptions are particularly stable reusable bags and the thin plastic bags that can be found at the fruit and vegetable stand.

The end is announced.

The number of plastic bags used in Germany had already fallen sharply in the past few years after many retailers had voluntarily committed not to give them away for free.

The trade association HDE announced on Friday that the issue of plastic carrier bags had been reduced by almost 70 percent since 2015 and that the ban was superfluous.

In 2019, consumption was around 18 lightweight plastic carrier bags per head.

Retailers and consumers have long since adapted their behavior "independently to the environmental challenges of our time," said Antje Gerstein, managing director for sustainability at the trade association.

Gerstein criticized the planned ban as "purely symbolic politics".

Some shops no longer offer disposable plastic bags at the checkout, but instead rely on alternatives made of paper, cardboard boxes or fabric.

The extent to which their ecological balance compares with plastic carrier bags when they are only used once or a few times is controversial.

However, the aim of the ban initiated by Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) is to avoid plastic waste.

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mic / dpa, afp