France has banned the plastic packaging of 30 different fruits and vegetables sold in grocery stores to reduce the country’s plastic use. Some fragile fruits, bulk packs and sliced or prepared fruits and vegetables are exempt from the ban.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s government says the aim is to phase out single-use plastics completely over time to reduce plastic pollution.
The Environment Ministry says the new ban aims at cutting back the use of throwaway plastic and boosting its substitution by other materials or reusable and recyclable packaging, reports BBC. The country also banned plastic straws, cups and cutlery, as well as polystyrene takeaway boxes in 2021.
Anne-Elisabeth Moutet, a French journalist, told Al Jazeera there have been mixed reactions to the ban as the practicalities come into effect. ‘On the one hand, the French are very much aware of the need to reduce plastic use. There is broad support for not using so much plastic. At the same time, once you buy vegetables yourself, you realise that nothing has been done to find new ways of wrapping that stop the produce from decomposing too fast.’
‘The other thing is that this comes right in the time of COVID. And quite frankly, people were just happy not to have others pawing their vegetables, trying them and smelling them and buying or not buying them,’ she said.
Reduce your use of plastic
In South Africa, many food items are still overpackaged, double wrapped or individually wrapped. But many fruits and vegetables can be bought loose and unwrapped. Here are some (not new, but still valid) ideas on how to reduce your use of plastic.
– Take your reusable shopping bag to the store, and don’t take a plastic bag in the fruit and veg section for loose items
– Support stores that offer paper bags instead of plastic
– Choose paper bags instead of plastic for home use, or opt for bags made from recycled plastic
– Say no thank you to plastic straws
– Reuse grocery items packaging like butter tubs for storage instead of buying Tupperware
– Take your own travel mug to get a takeaway coffee, or support coffee shops that use paper lids and wooden spoons
– Opt for biodegradable earbuds, toothbrushes and other eco-friendly toiletry products
– Separate all plastic, tin and glass items for recycling in your home
Picture: Pexels
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