Shopping Bags Retail Stores Nationwide Obliged to Charge From July Next Year

Shopping Bags Requiring retailers nationwide to pay a fee From July next year to December 25 at 18:54

From July next year, it was decided at a national study meeting on 25th to require retailers nationwide to pay for shopping bags, and guidelines were proposed, including examples of cases where charging is not applicable.

The Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry have been holding discussions with experts to reduce the amount of plastic garbage by reducing the use of plastic bags close to life.

The policy was approved at a study meeting on the 25th, and it was decided that all retailers nationwide, regardless of business type or size, will be required to pay for shopping bags from July next year.

Charges are required for plastic shopping bags made of fossil resources such as petroleum, which are used to carry goods. The price of the bags and how to use them are determined by the business operators themselves.

Bags containing more than 25% of biomass plastic made from plants are not required.

In addition, drafting guidelines for operation, thinking about cases where plastic bags made of fossil resources, such as thin small bags containing fish and meat products, are not covered, and setting of bag prices etc. Was shown.

The relevant ministries and agencies will revise the ministerial ordinance of the Containers and Packaging Recycling Law by the end of this year, and will come into force in July next year.

Expert "Charging is a very meaningful step"

"Essentially, it was a very meaningful step to decide to require the purchase of plastic shopping bags for a considerable part, although it is not covered," said Professor Eiji Hosoda of Chubu University, specializing in environmental economics. It is recognized as a valuable resource because you are paying for it, and I think it will motivate resource conservation and cyclical use of plastic bags repeatedly. "

On the other hand, he pointed out that plastic bags do not account for a large proportion of the total amount of plastic garbage, saying, "I don't think this will eliminate the problem of waste plastic. Biomass plastics and biodegradable plastics still use valuable resources, but we fear that they may misunderstand that resources are full. It is hoped that we will move in the direction of discussing the whole smart usage. "