IMMINENT PUBLICATION OF DECREE TO BAN PLASTIC BAGS IN FRANCE AT JANUARY 2016

USPA NEWS - Before the Surfrider activists and participants gathered at the first festival in Bordeaux Ocean Climax, Segolene Royal announced their imminent publication of the decree banning plastic bags from under the energy transition law.

17 BILION PLASTIC BAGS ARE STILL OF CONSUMED ANNUALLY IN FRANCE-------------------------------------------- In preamble of the future COP21 in Paris, November 2015"Segolene Royal said in the presence of Hubert Reeves as "pollution by plastic bags is a scourge against which we must fight, creating 5 continents plastic bags including one in the northern Pacific equivalent to 6 times that of France." 17 billion plastic bags are still of consumed annually in France which 8,000,000,000 are left in the wild. These bags are used a few minutes but takes several hundred years to degrade and are ingested by marine animals and birds. 75% of the waste dumped at sea are plastic.The most emblematic case is that of sea turtles, which confuse plastic bags with jellyfish 86% of marine turtle species are affected by this phenomenon. Birds are also very concerned: in the North Sea, 94% of the stomachs of birds contain plastic. In total there are more than 260 species that are affected by plastic bags. Thus, the Decree provides: - The single-use carrier bags will completely disappear from 1 January 2016 in favor of reusable bags, ie thicker, - That the bags "fruits and vegetables" single use will also disappear from 1 January 2017. The device does not allow the use of stocks.The energy transition law for green growth is a real opportunity to create jobs in an innovative sector for French companies. 80% of plastic bags consumed in France is imported. This rate is 90% for the "fruits and vegetables" bags that are almost entirely imported from Asia". Official Statement French Minister of Ecology and Sustainable Development, Segolene Royal