From January 2018, the plastic bag ban extends to the fruit and vegetable aisle

Environment · Elisabetta Scuri · 2017-10-22

From January 2018, the bags we use for fruit and vegetables when we do our supermarket shopping must also be biodegradable.

In addition to the plastic shopping bags already banned in 2011, we will soon also be saying goodbye to those used for fruit, vegetables, bread and all loose products available at the supermarket. The decision was made by article 9-bis of the decree on "urgent provisions for economic growth in the Mezzogiorno", converted into law in August 2017, which establishes that from January 2018 "only biodegradable and compostable bags with a minimum renewable raw material content of no less than 40 per cent may be sold".

Un carrello della spesa con sacchetti di plastica — From January 2018, bags used to hold loose food items at the supermarket will also be biodegradable, and chargeable © Ingimage

What the Mezzogiorno decree provides for

The decree responds to EU Directive 2015/720, which aims to reduce the use of plastic bags. The objective is a gradual reduction in the sale of ultra-lightweight plastic bags that do not have certified characteristics of biodegradability (the ability to decompose into less polluting substances) and compostability (the ability to transform into compost), and do not have a minimum renewable raw material content — which by 2021 must exceed 60 per cent.

Bottiglie di plastica — The aim of the measure is to reduce plastic use: every year eight million tonnes end up in the ocean © Sean Gallup/Getty Images

What changes for Italians doing their shopping

Bags for fruit and vegetables will therefore have to be biodegradable. Furthermore, they may no longer be free. Some supermarkets will be able to decide to list them on the receipt at a cost of a few cents. In a survey carried out by the research institute Ipsos-Public Affairs on a sample of one thousand Italians aged between 18 and 65, 58 per cent said they were in favour of the measure, and only 13 per cent were dissatisfied with it.

Ipsos Doxa @IpsosDoxa

𝕏

Gli italiani e la nuova legge sui sacchetti ultraleggeri.
La ricerca svolata da Ipsos per @materbi
shar.es/1Po77d

2 17 ott 2017 · Apri su X →

Growing awareness of sustainability

The report also highlights the growing interest among Italian citizens in environmental issues, already observed in the data collected by the National Observatory on Sustainable Lifestyles of LifeGate: almost 30 million Italians, equal to 59 per cent of the population, care about sustainability. And this is not a passing trend, but one that is now deeply rooted, given that the figure has not fallen in the years following the 2015 Expo in Milan.