article_snippet: All EU countries will have to cut the use of throwaway ‘plastic poison’ carrier bags by 80 per cent following a vote yesterday .
article_snippet: All EU countries will have to cut the use of throwaway ‘plastic poison’ carrier bags by 80 per cent following a vote yesterday.
article_snippet: Similar charging schemes in Ireland have led to a reduction of around 90per cent in the distribution of the flimsy bags, which have become a blight on streets and parks.
article_snippet: Volunteers at the Marine Conservation Society have been working tirelessly to clean beaches and protect sea life such as turtles, which are known to eat the bags because Volunteers at the Marine Conservation Society mistake the bags for jellyfish.
article_snippet: Pollution and litter expert at The MCS, welcomed the EU vote, as a ‘useful first step’ in the reduction in single use plastic bags.
article_snippet: An estimated 100 billion carrier bags are used every year in Europe - with 8 billion ending up as litter.
article_snippet: Many of those end up in seas and rivers, killing millions of marine animals.
article_snippet: Since then Wales is estimated that the number of bags issued at the tills is down by more than 75per cent.
article_snippet: There, families have found no significant problems in switching to re-usable bags and baskets for families shopping.
article_snippet: ‘a historic breakthrough in tackling the pervasive problem of plastic waste’.