Italy to Ban Plastic Bags Starting Jan. 1

FOX ^

[Sub-Driver]

Italy to Ban Plastic Bags Starting Jan. 1

Published December 29, 2010 | Reuters

Italy, one of the top users of plastic shopping bags in Europe, is banning them starting January 1, with retailers warning of chaos and many stores braced for the switch.

Italian critics say polyethylene bags use too much oil to produce, take too long to break down, clog drains and easily spread to become eye sores and environmental hazards.

Italians use about 20 billion bags a year -- more than 330 per person -- or about one-fifth of the total used in Europe, according to Italian environmentalist lobby Legambiente.

Starting on Saturday, retailers are banned from providing shoppers polyethylene bags. They can use bags made of such material as biodegradable plastic, cloth or paper.

[Sub-Driver]

Wonder how soon the US follows suit?

[sionnsar]

I hope not. These bags have become an essential part of my packing (travel) kit.

[Jolla]

They were outlawed here in San Francisco 3-4 years ago, we hardly see any blowing around any longer or piling up in Golden Gate Park. I know folks on this forum don't like it but it is really much nicer without them, although now we buy trash bags.

[lacrew]

Can somebody in the know answer a question? I know the bags are made from petroleum....but it is always stated in a manner which leads one to believe that oil is being pumped specifically for bag production.

Is this true? Or are the bags made with a byproduct of refining or something like that?...making bag production more akin to a recycling operation than ‘using oil’.

[IbJensen]

Ban all petroleum products and wait for the windmill bus.

[arderkrag]

And Christmas wrapping, if you’re like me!

[pnh102]

I don't agree with bans on plastic bags but I can respect an outright ban instead of a bag tax. In most place in the US where the local government wants to ban these things, they just impose another tax on them. It becomes another revenue stream.

But this is going to suck when it comes here, I love reusing those bags for trash and other things. And quite frankly, paper grocery bags SUCK.

[lacrew]

“They were outlawed here in San Francisco 3-4 years ago, we hardly see any blowing around any longer or piling up in Golden Gate Park. I know folks on this forum don’t like it but it is really much nicer without them, although now we buy trash bags.”

I understand that outlawing bags worked...but wasn’t littering against the law before that?

I just have a suspicion that a narrow segment of our population throws these things out the car window...but we all suffer for it....which annoys me.

[youngidiot]

I hope not. These bags have become an essential part of my packing (travel) kit.

I'm with you. They fit perfectly into my bathroom trashcans.

[MeganC]

I won’t miss the urban tumbleweed if the US ever gets around to banning them.

[miss marmelstein]

How long have they been using plastic bags? From my travels to Italy over 30 years, I find that most shoppers use string bags to pack their food items. Department stores give you beautiful paper bags for your shopping needs.

[MayflowerMadam]

Last month, I read an article about the fabric shopping bags being a disgusting breeding ground for all kinds of bacterial ick. So Italy will trade the plastic for massive illnesses. Whatever.

[Frantzie]

Didn’t The Who have a song called The Windmill Bus.

“Leave on the Windmill Bus - Windmill Bus...I Want It I want It...Windmill Bus.” LOL! ;-)

[hinckley buzzard]

I have been driving around Ohio, along country roads, highways and freeways for thirty years, and frequently go to parks and open spaces. It is a rare day I see a plastic bag blowing around or stuck in a tree branch or wherever. If it was as bad as you say in SF, you must live with a very sick bunch of pigs.

[Domalais]

Kind of a circular argument, but littering is pretty much unenforceable. And anytime that police spend time enforcing anything that’s not related to violent crime, there’s an instant outcry from citizens complaining that the police are wasting time on unimportant things.

Personally, I don’t really care either way. Does make sense to use a reuseable resource.

Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the switch to plastic instead of paper an environmentalist things in the first place?

[napscoordinator]

Last month, I read an article about the fabric shopping bags being a disgusting breeding ground for all kinds of bacterial ick. So Italy will trade the plastic for massive illnesses. Whatever.

I heard that too. Didn’t we say paper bags could not be used because we were using too many trees just thirty years ago? Man I guess since it is not in flavor right now, trees don’t matter. That is why I don’t take these worries about plastic bags seriously because in 30 years they will demand that you use them again.

[Hoodat]

It takes more than four times the energy to manufacture a new paper bag than a plastic one. It takes 85 times more energy to recycle a paper bag than to recycle a plastic one. The manufacture of paper bags creates 70% more air pollution and 5000% more water pollution than the manufacture of plastic bags. And a paper bag takes up 7 times more landfill space than a plastic one.

Want to kill the environment? Use paper bags.

[MarDav]

All right...paper then.

[Hoodat]

Wasn’t the switch to plastic instead of paper an environmentalist things in the first place?

DING DING DING !!! WE HAVE A WINNER !!!

[wbill]

They fit perfectly into my bathroom trashcans.

Yup, I'm with you. I use those bags for darn near everything.

IMHO, 'tis the difference between people who actually reuse and recycle, and the people who want to feeeeeeeeeeeel like they're doing something.