BERLIN, May 28 (Xinhua) -- German Environment Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) backed calls by the European Commission on Monday to dramatically reduce the use of non-recyclable plastic in the bloc.
"We must prohibit the use of plastic that cannot be recycled," Schulze told the public broadcaster "ARD". While stopping short of demanding an outright ban on all plastic products, the minister lamented that first steps by the Commission to outlaw plastic cutlery and straws were "probably too weak" to come to grips with the issue at hand.
The European Commission is scheduled to unveil concrete policy proposals for a joint plastic strategy for the bloc on Monday which would legally require all related products to be recyclable from 2030 onwards. "We must prevent that plastic enters our water, our food and even our bodies", a statement by the commission's Vice-President Frans Timmermans read.
According to officials in Brussels, the EU generates 26 million tons of plastic waste each year. Despite growing recycling efforts, a large share thereof still ends in oceans where it endangers marine ecosystems and can also re-enter the human food chain in the form of small plastic particles found in fish.
An estimated 160 million tons of plastic are currently drifting in the world's oceans. Up to 85 percent of trash on European beaches are made of plastic, half of which was designed for singular use. Amongst others, the EU consequently wants to issue a guideline for members to recycle 90 percent of plastic bottles until 2025.
Earlier, German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) politician and EU Commissioner Guenther Oettinger sparked a public debate in Germany by calling for an EU-wide plastic tax of 80 cents per kilogram. Oettinger argued that such an ambitious measure could help make up for a shortfall created by Britain's decision to leave the EU, as well as reducing the use of plastic by consumers and companies.
