International Plastic Bag Free Day 2021

Plastic Bag Free Day is a global initiative that aims to eliminate the use of single-use plastic bags in the world. 

This work centered around Plastic Bag Free Day, on the 3rd of July each year. Now, the campaign is part of the broader Break Free From Plastic movement, which brings together an international movement of plastic pollution fighters to build a future free from plastic waste.

Measures to phase out single-use plastic bags:

In order to limit the amount of single use plastic bags some countries are opting for bans, taxation or different forms of voluntary agreements. Banning plastic bags is most effective in cases when they pose an imminent and clear threat, however, bans depend on strong law enforcement capacity. Examples of countries that have banned are Italy, Rwanda or Bangladesh.

On average, plastic bags are used for 25 minutes.

Yet, it takes between 100 to 500 years for a plastic bag to disintegrate (depending on the type of plastic).

1 million plastic bags are in used around the world every minute.

The average European uses about 500 plastic bags per year. Yet Europeans overwhelmingly support a ban on single-use plastic bags.

80% of marine litter is plastic.

3.4 million tonnes of plastic carrier bags are produced in the EU every year. This corresponds to the weight of more than two million cars!

By Gajera International School, Utran

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