A new law has been approved by the European Union in a bid to cut down on the usage of plastic grocery bags.
The rules have been unanimously agreed by EU ambassadors and will see the reduction in the usage of lightweight carrier bags of up to 90 per person by 2019-end, and 40 bags per person annually by the end of 2025.
This is expected to put a stop to the practice of supermarkets giving bags for free, a measure already applied in some countries.
Member states will be given a choice of either banning free plastic bags, or setting binding targets to bring the average annual consumption. If states do not comply, the European Commission can take them to the bloc's highest courts, which have the power to impose fines.
Said to be drafted with the European Parliament, the measure has been criticised by the new EU executive saying that states will have to struggle to implement legislation which proposes using minimum prices or any other methods to reduce use of the bags.
The commission noted that in 2010, each EU citizen used an average of around 200 plastic bags and out of these, 176 are said to be the lightweight single-use bags that are a target for the new rule.
Plastic bags litter the seas and are also said to persist in the environment for many years.
