Plastic packaging bans flood the new year

The crackdown on plastic packaging and single-use plastic bags will continue unabated in 2022
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From January 1, 2022, France will ban 30 types of fruits and vegetables in plastic bags, including cucumbers, eggplants, leeks, bananas and oranges
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There are some exceptions, such as packaged products weighing more than 1.
5kg, chopped and processed fruit, and fragile fruit such as raspberries and blueberries, but this is only temporary
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According to the news outlet France 24, by 2026, plastic packaging for all fruits and vegetables will be phased out
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French President Emmanuel Macron called the ban "a real revolution" and said France would be the first in the world to phase out all single-use plastics by 2040, according to the British newspaper The Guardian
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For small companies exporting products such as apples to the UK and elsewhere, the costs are "inevitable", Laurent Grandin, head of the fruit and vegetable division at Interfel, told AFP
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An apple producer in the Loire Valley already uses 100% cardboard packaging, but costs have soared by 30%, AFP quoted a company representative as saying
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Vancouver is banning businesses from handing out single-use plastic and compostable plastic shopping bags ahead of the new year
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Customers can request the use of paper bags, but they will need to pay at least 15 cents extra for it
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By 2023, the fee will increase to 25 cents
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Meanwhile, the US state of New Jersey is determined to stem the tide of plastic waste polluting its roads and waterways with a far-reaching statewide ban
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Starting May 4, 2022, retail stores, grocery stores and food service businesses will ban single-use takeout bags or Styrofoam food service products from customers
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Disposable paper bags are permitted, with the exception of grocery stores of 2,500 square feet or more, which are only allowed to offer or sell reusable food bags
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