It has captured the headline for Plastics News

Four years after it was originally proposed, Italy has imposed a ban on single-use polyethylene-based retail carryout bags. Italy is the first country in the European Union to ban plastic bags.

Ireland has had a tax on plastic carryout bags since 2002. That tax was initially 15 cents, but was raised to 22 cents in 2007.

Most other sites just say plastic bags are banned, but I figured a site dedicated to plastics would make a point about the particular type.

I wrote about degrading plastic in 2009, and in 2007 I mentioned Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania had banned plastic bags.

While the African countries said they had to take “drastic measures” to change people’s attitudes, Italy’s ban is said to have been urged by more than 100,000 citizens. Ironic, considering Italy has the highest annual plastic bag count per person (over 330) in the EU.