The Government will anticipate the deadlines set by Brussels and, starting in the second half of 2020, single-use plastics will be banned in Portugal.
Disposable plastic plates, cutlery and cups, straws, cotton swabs or coffee stirrers will disappear from supermarket shelves in June of next year, ahead of the European Commission's targets which foresee the end of the sale of these products the following year.
Similarly, starting January 1, 2020, so-called oxo-degradable plastic bags, presented in recent years as more environmentally friendly because they are thinner, will also be banned, but studies have revealed that they only disintegrate into small, equally polluting particles. Thicker plastic bags will increase in price. The only exception will be bags that incorporate 70% recycled plastic.
On the other hand, for packaging, the introduction of returnable deposits is planned, meaning that its return will be rewarded with shopping vouchers. The measure is being implemented as a pilot project in several supermarkets, with its expansion to the whole country expected within two years.
These measures follow the conclusions of the working group created by the Government to analyze plastic issues and will be presented this Friday, February 22nd, in Lisbon, as part of the conference "Living with less plastic".
