Citizens of the European Union are using fewer and fewer lightweight plastic carrier bags, according to new EU statistics.
 

According to the latest figures from the European statistical office Eurostat, the consumption of plastic carrier bags with a wall thickness of less than 50 micrometres amounted to 29.8 billion units in 2022. This is 4.7 billion fewer than in the previous year and 12.4 billion fewer than at the start of data collection in 2018. According to the statistics, the consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags in the EU fell by 29 per cent between 2018 and 2022. The per capita quantity fell from an average of 95 to 67 units during this period. In the last reporting year alone, bag consumption in the EU fell by 11 units per capita. However, consumption levels vary widely among member states: In 2022, reported consumption in individual countries ranged from 4 items per capita in Belgium to 249 in Lithuania, the latter figure being due to high consumption of very light plastic bags (i.e. bags with a wall thickness of less than 15 micrometres). As all EU countries have now implemented measures to reduce consumption, as required by the Plastic Bags Directive, Eurostat attributes the wide range in per capita consumption primarily to differences in the effectiveness of these measures. These are caused by a variety of economic, social and political factors. The differences in consumption also reflect the fact that measures have been in place for longer in some countries than in others. Another possible reason for the differences in reported consumption, according to Eurostat, is the diversity of the collection methods used by the countries. Methodological problems that lead to inaccurate data could be ruled out, even though overall data quality has improved every year.
 
According to the figures, most EU countries are still a long way from the target set in the EU Plastics Bags Directive in 2015 of reducing the consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags to a maximum of 40 bags per person per year by the end of 2025. Only one-third of the countries, including Germany, were able to reduce bag consumption to below this figure by 2022. According to Eurostat, per capita consumption in twelve countries is still at least twice as high as the target, and in seven countries it is even at least three times as high.
 
Sources:

• Eurostat (12.11.2024)
• Photo: © Matthias Reding / Unsplash (symbolic image)