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Sun, May 26 2013
Bulgaria plans increasing fee to discourage use of plastic bags
Photo: John Nyberg/sxc.hu
Bulgaria, which has one of the highest per capita uses of plastic bags in the European Union, plans an ever-increasing fee from 2011 to discourage their use.
Mass-circulation daily 24 Chassa said in early November that the Environment Ministry was preparing legislation on the fee, but had not yet decided final details of the increases.
Reportedly, the Environment Ministry had reached agreement on the scheme with the association of plastics producers and with a number of major retail chains.
A Bulgarian National Television (BNT) report on November 20 2010 showed people at markets using large number of plastic bags for their purchases. One woman, asked how many bags she had after her shopping, estimated that it was about a dozen.
Bulgarians in cities used many more bags than people living in small villages, the BNT report said.
The report said that in a year, a Bulgarian used about 270 plastic bags, while the per capita average for Germany was 65.
European regulations require reduction of the use of plastic bags, BNT said.
In an interview, Theodora Zheleva, of the Environment Ministry’s department of management of household and construction waste, said that the product fee would apply to the thinnest bags, of less than 15 microns.
However, producers believed that this was not a solution, BNT said.
Antoinette Pernikova, executive director of the Polymers Association, said that before there was a clear mechanism for checking, the measure would stimulate the illicit economy, hurting companies that operate in the light.
BNT said that in Bulgaria, there was a lack of knowledge about the impact of using plastic bags. Burning plastics released toxic substances including dioxins, while separate waste collection was not working effectively, the report said.
Mass-circulation daily 24 Chassa said in early November that the Environment Ministry was preparing legislation on the fee, but had not yet decided final details of the increases.
Reportedly, the Environment Ministry had reached agreement on the scheme with the association of plastics producers and with a number of major retail chains.
A Bulgarian National Television (BNT) report on November 20 2010 showed people at markets using large number of plastic bags for their purchases. One woman, asked how many bags she had after her shopping, estimated that it was about a dozen.
Bulgarians in cities used many more bags than people living in small villages, the BNT report said.
The report said that in a year, a Bulgarian used about 270 plastic bags, while the per capita average for Germany was 65.
European regulations require reduction of the use of plastic bags, BNT said.
In an interview, Theodora Zheleva, of the Environment Ministry’s department of management of household and construction waste, said that the product fee would apply to the thinnest bags, of less than 15 microns.
However, producers believed that this was not a solution, BNT said.
Antoinette Pernikova, executive director of the Polymers Association, said that before there was a clear mechanism for checking, the measure would stimulate the illicit economy, hurting companies that operate in the light.
BNT said that in Bulgaria, there was a lack of knowledge about the impact of using plastic bags. Burning plastics released toxic substances including dioxins, while separate waste collection was not working effectively, the report said.
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Bulgaria to impose tax on plastic bags in July 2011
The tax will be increased gradually each year in order to make plastic bags increasingly costly, with the price of one bag to be raised to 55 stotinki in 2014 from the current 15 stotinki.
How 'green' is Bulgaria?
A Bulgarian environmental programme that portrayed trash as a sign of sloppy style and unfit, out-of-shape civic bodies might just shift consciousness and promote clean-up.
Bulgaria's Piccadilly food chain throws out plastic bags
Bulgaria's Varna-based supermarket operator Piccadilly will replace with polydegralex bags the polyethylene bags used in all of its 19 stores as of January 12 2009, the company said.
Ministry prepares war on plastic bags
The Ministry of Environment and Water Affairs (MOEW) is preparing legislative bills aimed at limiting the usage of the plastic bags in Bulgaria. The plastic bags are not being recycled and therefore represent a huge source of pollution, private broadcaster bTV reported on June 5. The plastic bags in Bulgaria can be recycled in the factories for recycling plastic but collecting is difficult, environment consultant Todor Nedkov told The Sofia Echo on June 5. He said that the packaging waste recovery organisations are recycling the thicker bags, but was not that easy to collect the wide-spread thin plastic bags used by most Bulgarian shops.
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We have to agree that this issue is a disgrace, and a very poor reflection of Our Bulgarian Society! But we are not alone here take a look at Greece Cyprus Iraly Malra Latvia Kalingrad Portugal Turkey Mauritius Malaysia the UK Ireland Brazil Venezuela Kenya Mozambique China the DRK and RofK and the list goes on and on. We are all to blame, and I'm included here!
Here is a simple solution that any Government could claim to be their own: promote and then have a ""plastic bag free shopping day"" you will find that it will work [...]
Read the full comment for the shopping venues (supermarkets local stores and the likes could all participate!)Then let's have a move for paper bags and wrappings like we all used to have back in the 1950s! You may think that this is not a way forwards well it certainly is and it is already being practiced elsewhere around the world.
You don't like this idea: then how about inviting the company Applied Biofuels Limited from Malta (a joint venture corporation which exists between Genesyst UK [from the UK] and CCHC[from Israel]which has the technology to convert all of the waste disposed of in Bulgaria in to Biofuels and Bioplastics. Through their methods you will find that all the waste materials (other than inerts like metals glass and stones) can either be converted to biofuels for transport (as Ethanol which is a substitute for gasoline/petrol) at a huge environmental benefit to the country which would result in Bulgaria reducing its oil imports by at least 45% - yes 45% - and they can also make bioplastics from the same waste which could then also be turned into the same biofuel (ethanol.) It sounds far fetched: certainly not for that is waht theese companies are proposing elsewhere. Such a process is far more environmentally friendly than incineration (no toxic cancerous gases or materials or smokes are emitted) and it would save the country Billions of Leva over the next 5 to 10 years.
So there you have it.
This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained off-topic content
Finally! But i'll be surprised if the law is enforced.
On a positive note, I commend the (long overdue) initiative by the Environment Ministry and also urge them to look into separate waste collection asap, as well as into setting up an environmental police force to crack down on polluters.
I live in Parvomaysti,near the once mighty Yantra river,so whilst we are on about plastic bags,can we also "discourage"an army of slack jaw locals from dumping,matttresses,tyres,plastics and garden waste into the river.The Yantra seems to be a inconvenience that must be filled in as soon as possible.