The country with the fourth largest consumption of plastic bags in the EU was Cyprus in 2022, according to data released by Eurostat, the statistical agency of the European Union, at a time when, across Europe, their use decreased by 14% compared to 2021 as a result of measures promoted by Member States.
Among the Member States for which data were available, the countries reporting the highest consumption of plastic bags per person in 2022 were Lithuania (249 bags per person), Latvia (193) and the Czech Republic (185).
Cyprus follows in fourth place with over 150 bags per person (the relevant article and the Eurostat page do not present the exact figure for total plastic bag use, only by category of bag thickness).
The majority of consumption in the first three countries concerns very light plastic carrier bags, i.e. bags with a plastic thickness of less than 15 micrometres (μm).
In the case of Cyprus, in 2022 82,3 bags with a thickness of less than 15 μm per person, 83,8 bags with a thickness between 15 and 49 μm per person, and 166,1 bags with a thickness of less than 50 μm per person were used.
The countries with the lowest consumption of plastic bags were Belgium (4 bags per person), Poland (7) and Portugal (13).
Europe-wide, a total of 2022 billion lightweight plastic bags were used in 29,8, 4,7 billion fewer than in 2021. This translates to an average of 66,6 bags per person in 2022, a decrease of 10,8 bags (-14%) per person compared to 2021.
All EU countries have introduced consumption reduction measures as required by the Plastic Bag Directive, which aims to reduce the consumption of lightweight plastic bags (LPCB) to no more than 40 bags per person by 31 December 2025 (the this target does not include very light bags less than 15 µm thick, or VLPCB).
Differences in per capita consumption are mainly due to differences in the effectiveness of measures, which are influenced by economic, social and political factors, it noted. In addition, it is added that some countries implemented measures to reduce consumption during the period 2018 – 2022, while others implemented them for a longer period. A third factor is the use of different calculation methods between EU countries.
Source: KYPE