Every July 3, the International Day Free of Plastic Bags is commemorated, a day that seeks to raise awareness of the serious environmental impact of this single-use product and promote its reduction and replacement with more sustainable alternatives.

According to the United Nations, plastic bags are one of the main sources of pollution on the planet. Its production requires petroleum derivatives, water and energy, also generating greenhouse gas emissions. However, their lifespan barely reaches 20 minutes on average, while they can take between 100 and 400 years to degrade.

Their lightness makes it easy for them to be dispersed in any environment: fields, rivers, beaches, seas… There they threaten biodiversity, causing the suffocation or strangulation of numerous marine species, such as turtles, dolphins or tuna, by mistaking them for food.

It is estimated that each person in the European Union uses an average of 66 plastic bags per year, which is a reduction of 14% compared to 2021. This decrease reflects the impact of the regulatory measures adopted in different countries to limit its consumption, although the European objective of reducing it to below 40 bags per inhabitant is still far away.

Beyond the visible damage, the effect of microplastics and nanoplastics, particles derived from their degradation that pollute soil, water and air, and which have already been detected in human feces, lungs and blood plasma, is also worrying. If this trend is not reversed, the UN estimates that by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean.

BOOSTING THE REDUCTION OF PLASTICS

The Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (RTRP) financed by the European Union-NextGenerationEU, contributes 97.5 million euros to the reduction of plastic production and consumption through the call for grants to promote the circular economy in the plastics sector. This line of aid seeks to promote the sustainability and circularity of industrial and business processes, improving the competitiveness and innovation of the industrial fabric, digitalisation, increasing the level of environmental protection and improving waste management.