Using plastic shopping bags could become a thing of the past after Euro MPs agreed to proposals to end their use this week.

Kirklees councillor Andrew Cooper, lead Green for the Yorkshire and the Humber region, welcomed the move: saying that plastic bags create massive amounts of waste and litter – as well as posing a danger to wildlife and lasting a long time in the environment.

“Probably everyone has moaned about plastic bags at one time or other and we’ve all got a drawer full of bags somewhere which never goes empty,” he said.

“There are discarded shopping bags in all our towns and cities. They are unsightly and dirty and, being airtight and longlasting, they present a real threat to wildlife including marine life.”

About 100 billion carrier bags are used every year in Europe – with some 8 billion ending up as litter. Many of those end up in seas and rivers, killing millions of marine animals said Clr Cooper.

MEPs agreed that new rules proposed by the European Commission didn’t go far enough and called for mandatory targets to reduce bag use by 50% in three years and 80% over five years, as well as requiring that shoppers pay for their bags.

Clr Cooper added: “In Ireland there’s been a charge for plastic shopping bags since 2002. People use alternatives and their use drops off very quickly. It shows targets to reduce them can be achieved and a price on single-use bags is a proven and highly effective policy tool for reducing consumption.

“Any measures to dramatically cut their use are to be welcomed. They’ll massively benefit our environment by significantly reducing plastic waste and quickly.”

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