MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazil’s mega-city of Sao Paulo initiated a ban on petroleum-based plastic grocery bags on April 5, following a multi-year dispute between plastic industry trade groups and city government, said Plasticsnews.
Supermarkets can now only offer bags made from plant-based plastics, and those bags must be color-coded green or gray for use with recycling or trash. Citizens who don’t use the bags properly face potential fines. Sao Paulo aims to increase recycling by requiring that only the green bags be used for recyclables, an unusual provision in a bag law. But critics are skeptical, saying the new regulation alone — without major investment in collection services — won’t greatly boost recycling.
Sao Paulo’s initial effort to ban plastic grocery bags in early 2012 was quickly halted by industry legal action and vocal consumers, who complained they were being cheated when grocers stopped providing plastic bags, which Brazilians rely on as liners for small trash cans at home.
Grocers can now offer only biodegradable plastic bags colored green and gray, or any type of plant-based packaging such as cardboard boxes, at no cost or for a few cents. The law says bags must have at least 51 percent plant-based content.
Stores that continue distributing non-biodegradable plastic bags will face fines of up to 2 million real (USD644,000). Citizens must use green bags at home just for recyclables, or face fines of 50 to 500 real (USD16 to USD161).
Latin America’s second most populous city, with 11.9 million people, generates 12,500 tons of residential waste daily, but recycles just 3 percent of it, according to local figures. Officials want to increase the recycling rate to 10 percent by 2016.
Municipal garbage collection is available for 68 percent of residents, or 86 out of 96 districts. The city says neighborhoods that don’t have public recycling collection won’t be inspected for proper bag use.
Plastic bags are considered by some to be a major contributor to flooding problems in Sao Paulo. Large black and old plastic grocery bags can still be used for garbage under the new law.
As MRC informed earlier, representatives of European Union member states hammered out a dealto reduce consumption of lightweight plastic bags to 40 bags per person per year by 2025. National governments will have to either reduce average lightweight plastic bags consumption to 90 bags per person per year by 2019 and 40 by 2025 or ensure that, by 2018, consumers pay for their bags. A second unanimous vote was needed because the original agreement had been opposed by the European Commission, the EU’s executive body.
MRC