Portugal is the second country in the European Union with the lowest consumption of light and ultra-light plastic bags – Sociedade
In the year 2020, every person living in the European Union used, average🇧🇷 87 foil or ultra-light plastic bags, minus six per person compared to the previous year. In Portugal, on the other hand, around 17 bags per personthe second lowest value of consumption among the countries of the European Union.
These Dice are from Eurostat and were published on 16 November.
According to data from Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), there was a marked reduction in the consumption of plastic canvas bags from 2015reaching its lowest point in 2017 and reversing the downward trend to growth in 2018.
Contributed to the decrease an issue of 10 cents fee on each plastic bag which came into force in February 2015🇧🇷 One year later there was no doubt: the consumption of plastic bags had already downloaded by 95% with a new fee.
The decision to tax plastic bags at eight cents (to which two cents of VAT are added, totaling 10 cents) was part of the “Green Taxation” program, launched in 2014. This tax arose from the initiative of the then Minister of the Environment , Jorge Moreira da Silvawhich had as its flag the need to reduce the resulting consumption of this product, especially at sea, thus following the directives of the European Union.
Speaking to PolÃgrafo, Moreira da Silva considers that “this is a clear example of a change in behavior induced by structural reformThis change meant that Portugal ceased to be the country “with worst performance of the European Union”, by consuming 466 light plastic bags per person, to the opposite end of the table, as second country with lowest consumption🇧🇷
🇧🇷The reform resulted and the Portuguese, with their change in behavior, remained at the center of change”, praises the former ruler.
🇧🇷Single-use plastic foil bags – less than 50 microns thick (the most harmful to the environment due to the risk of fragmentation into small particles) – practically disappearedpeople started to use specific garbage bags and reusable bags for transporting supermarket purchases and the few plastic bags that are purchased at supermarket checkouts are thick (more than 50 microns) and, therefore, with greater potential for reuse by consumers, with greater potential for recycling (by manufacturers) and with lower risks of fragmentation (if thrown in the trash)”, he details.
Asked about the reversal of the downward trend, Moreira da Silva says he does not know “what justified the increase from 8 to 17 bags per person between 2019 and 2020” and refers to possible influences for the Ministry of the Environment or the Portuguese Environment Agency. “I don’t believe there has been a reversal of the trend”, he concludes.
