More than 6,400 people have signed a petition, urging a new minister for the environment to ban the use of plastic bags in Iceland next year, Vísir reports.
Numerous countries, cities and states have recently imposed a complete or partial ban on the use of disposable plastic bags. Handing them out free of charge has been banned; a special plastic bag tax has been assessed; and the bags have been replaced with paper bags.
A project plan for the Ministry for the Environment and Natural Resources calls for considerably reducing the use of disposable plastic bags by 2025. That plan was made in the summer, in accordance with an ordinance from the European Economic Area. It entails that plastic bags may not be distributed free of charge by 2018, and that the annual number of plastic bags used per person be reduced to 40 by 2025.
Thousands of Icelanders consider that plan insufficient. They would like authorities to move much faster. Þórhildur Fjóla Kristjánsdóttir, energy and environmental engineer, is among those in charge of the petition. “We see no reason to delay these measures. With the petition, we want to show that consumers are ready. We just need a little more help in making environmentally friendly decisions. I think Iceland is the ideal country to take this step and show solidarity that way.”
You can view the petition here.
