Poland to introduce fees on plastic bags

The ministry of environment plans to introduce a PLN 0.2 fee for plastic bags in order to curb their use. According to the draft bill, the price of a plastic shopping bag will not exceed PLN 1. The fee would be applicable to bags of up to 50 microns, which are widely used for grocery shopping. Thinner, less than 15 microns bags, - provided they are used exclusively for hygienic reasons or for packaging of food sold in bulk (vegetables, fruits, meat, fish) would be exempt from the fee. Such solution, while not mandatory, has been implemented by many shops, which charge PLN 0.05-0.2 per plastic bags. This has curbed its use by 36 percent. According to estimates, Poles use 250-300 plastic bags per year, while the European average is at 200.