Environment

Introduction Bio fuels and Agro Chemicals The Chemicals & Environment Trade Cluster in Lyon Renewable energy in France Wood-burning stoves, solar paneling and wind turbines Wind Turbines in France Business opportunities in the environment sector Focus on the waste management sector Asbestos, France starts to clean up The end of French plastic bags Environmental Legislation Facing the Housing Sector in France Wind Energy In Europe Wind Energy In The USA Going Green with Eco Building Materials Hemp, the eco-friendly building material

Has anyone found the solution to plastic bags - if so, France is looking! 

The French arrived late to recycling compared to their European neighbours. Sorting household rubbish was only introduced in 1992. But French households took up the cause more readily than expected, sorting bottles, paper and plastics into various containers. Today, 70% of households claim to sort their rubbish. Last autumn, the French parliament took environmental concerns one step further, banning all plastic packaging that is not bio-degradable by 2010, including plastic bags. 

The large retail chains, notably hypermarkets Auchan and Leclerc, were the first to trumpet ecological motives for banning plastic bags. Customers were left to either pay for a re-usable carrier bag with the store logo, or to scrabble for disused cardboard boxes to carry the weekly groceries. Despite these inconveniences, the French consumer is proving more environmentally sensitive than first thought with 83% agreeing with the plastic bag ban in a recent opinion poll.

The opinion seems to be translated into fact as well: 15 billion plastic bags were used in France in 2003, declining to 12Bn in 2004 and 9Bn in 2005.

Industrialists, however, doubt the feasibility of the 2010 date, arguing logically that banning plastic shopping bags is one thing but to extend the biodegradable requirement to all packaging is unrealistic. Many environmentalists are also against the plan. They argue that, as biodegradable plastic is usually made out of corn starch, the amount of pesticide run-off from the huge corn plantings needed to fulfil the packaging industry’s needs would create other ecological problems. Most environmentalists campaign for less packaging rather than a miracle packaging product. 

The French government is now committed to banning the commercialisation and distribution of non-biodegradable plastic packaging by the end of the decade. Now the race is on in France to find a miracle packaging product other than corn starch. Businesses with plastic packaging solutions will find a ready and willing market in France over the next 5 years.