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France has been at the forefront of the fight against plastic, introducing a plastic bag ban earlier in the summer and now the country plans to ban all single use plastic tableware by 2020.
As reported in The Local, the plan was hidden in a 2015 green energy bill. By 2020, single use plastic cups, plates and cutlery will be outlawed, including cups for tea and coffee machines, and all disposable tableware will have to be fully compostable.
Plastic tableware is ubiquitous at parties and picnics – France alone discards some 4.3 billion plastic cups a year. Pack2Go Europe, "a Brussels-based organisation representing European packaging manufacturers," wants the European Commission to take action against France's plans.
The organisation's secretary general Eamonn Bates told The Associated Press: "We are urging the European Commission to do the right thing and to take legal action against France for infringing European law. If they don't, we will."
Earlier in the year, France passed a law forcing all supermarkets over a certain size to donate all unsold food to charity. When it comes to tackling waste, the French are leading the way.
This French company generates electricity from waste cheese
