After the ban on disposable plastic products at events in public spaces, the retail industry has more good news for the environment.
The CEO of Comeos, the Belgian Federation for Commerce and Services, Dominique Michel, stated “We can not yet promise a world without packaging. But we opted for a maximum reduction and we will ensure that ultimately, all single-use packaging in our stores is recyclable, biodegradable or compostable“.
Supermarkets have committed to remove all single-use plastic fruit and vegetable bags by December. This will save 2,500 tons of plastic per year. Instead, they will be offering reusable paper, biodegradable or compostable bags.
By 2020, supermarkets will no longer apply any non-biodegradable stickers to fruit and vegetables.
Similarly, restaurant chains will stop using single-use plastic cups and instead replaced them with cardboard cups.
The European Single-Use Plastics directive is “the most comprehensive strategy in the world which adopts a material-specific lifecycle approach to tackle wasteful and damaging plastic litter and to support the vision of a smart, innovative and sustainable plastics industry”. It is expected to come into force by summer 2021 and bring an end to the use of single-use plastic cutlery, cups and straws.
The blue garbage bag will be used to sort out all plastic packaging and will be available in Belgium by 2021.
“All plastic packaging of products that you buy in our stores can then be put in the new bag blue. As a result, it is eight kilos per inhabitant per year of additional plastics that will be collected selectively and will no longer result in the bag of residual waste and incinerators, “ adds Comeos.