For some time now, July 3 of each year has been celebrated as International Plastic Bag Free Day, with the clear intention of raising awareness among people about the harmful effects of their use and encouraging their disappearance. It is still essential and necessary to remember that a plastic bag takes more than 500 years to decompose and that each person uses an average of 230 bags per year, that is, more than 500 trillion worldwide. These may seem like unimportant figures, but if we add to this that 12 million tons of plastic reach our oceans every year and that 1 in 6 fish sold in fishmongers' shops has microplastics in its stomach, things begin to take on seriously worrying overtones.
This year's anniversary also has a double meaning, as on July 3, 2021, the ban imposed by the European Directive of March 2019 on single-use plastics such as plates, cutlery, straws, beverage stirrers, cotton swabs and any expanded polystyrene and oxo-degradable plastic containers comes into force. In reality, what is prohibited from this month of July is the introduction into the distribution channel, but the merchant who has already acquired it can sell it.
In order to transpose the European dictates, the Spanish Government is currently processing the Law on Waste and Contaminated Soils, the measures of which will come into force on January 1, 2023. Therefore, there is still some time for all economic sectors to adapt to the new regulations, which not only involve the elimination of single-use plastics. For example, caps will be required to remain attached to the bottles or containers to which they belong, or that classic plastic bottles contain 25% recycled plastic from 2025.
The massive reduction of plastic not only implies a measure of protection of the environment and human health, but also constitutes an important boost to a low-carbon economy and a necessary reduction in the use of the planet's resources.
In short, it is a radical change in our economic system that goes, however, beyond a series of rules and obligations. It is and must be, above all, an awareness on the part of the entire social fabric of the importance of modifying our consumption habits. There are valid alternatives to plastic such as fungi, algae, potato and yucca starch, millet, the banana tree, or the natural polymer derived from the shells of shrimp, prawns and prawns, chitosan, which is the second most abundant material on Earth. Studying and promoting products that use alternative materials will undoubtedly boost the so-called sustainable "circular economy" that is so much talked about and that is one of the SDGs to be achieved in the 2030 Agenda.
The European NEXT GENERATION funds are largely earmarked for waste treatment projects, biodiversity recovery and CO2 emission reduction. So we are going to have the means to move towards a greener and more sustainable future. Now all that is needed is to raise awareness.
Nova M. Kirkpatrick, Councilor for Activities and Heritage Responsibility for the PSOE in the Arrecife City Council