Removing Plastic From Europe

The European Union Votes To Ban Single-Use Plastic By 2021

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(@ecospire.uk) via Instagram

A representation of how plastic affects Marine life.

Lora Cholakova, Writer

The European Parliament has voted to ban single-use plastics across the board in an attempt to stop the unending stream of plastic pollution making its way into the oceans.

According to the European Commission, these plastics make up 70 percent of all marine litter. They highlight that if no such action is taken, by 2025 there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans. The EU’s research on the topic says about 150,000 tonnes of plastic are tossed into European waters every year.

Such plastic products are, as the name suggests, used just once and then thrown away. They include things like straws, plates, cups and cotton buds, and can take several centuries to degrade in the oceans where they are increasingly observed to be consumed by marine life.

The list of proposed banned items includes polystyrene fast-food containers and products made of oxo-degradable plastics. The consumption of several other items, for which no alternative exists, will have to be reduced by member states by least 25% by 2025. This includes single-use burger boxes, sandwich boxes or food containers for fruits, vegetables, or desserts.

“I believe the ban is very useful for our environment and will definitely help the marine system.” says senior Brianna Navarro. “I even think the ban should be brought to America as well not only in Europe because this ban is proving that we have as humans have to be the ones to help the marine life.”

The law, which was supported by 560 Members of the European Parliament against 35 on Wednesday, stipulates that 10 single-use plastic items will be banned in order to curb ocean pollution.

However senior Pedro Martins doesn’t agree with the ban entirely. “I think we use so much plastic in our daily life that it would be very hard for us to adjust to life without plastic.” says Pedro. “I think there should be a public campaign for humans to use less plastic- however I don’t think it should be entirely banned.”  

Research shows there will be more plastic than fish by weight in the world’s oceans by 2050. Despite the benefits of single-use plastics- they have cause global unrest towards the topic of pollution and have created greater awareness in this globally.  

“I think plastic in the oceans is truly a global issue and the ban should be done only one part of the world in this case in Europe.” says Brianna. “The single use plastic ban should spread all across the globe