A pile of plastic bottles and other plastic waste. Photo Credit, Magda Ehlers, Pexels
Could France be leading the way in environmentally friendly living in Europe? With a new bill proposed to ban small plastic water bottles, the country is certainly making an effort.
French politician, Pierre Cazenueve, of President Emmanuel Macron´s Renaissance party, is on a mission to stop the availability and purchase of all 33cl, 25cl and 17cl bottles, saying that they are “completely absurd” and “environmental nonsense” as the diminutive water containers use some 20-25 grams of plastic for every 3-4 sips drank [Saskia O´Donoghue, Euronews, 22/10/2024]. The proposed law (which as yet doesn´t mention banning bottles of 50cl or more) is estimated to be approved by many of the French public, following the results of a recent poll, but will require a fair amount of legislation before it is granted approval.
OpinionWay conducted the study as research for two environmental organisations – charities No Plastic in My Sea and Zero Waste France – and the vote revealed that around two-thirds of French residents would support the ban. Cazeneuve just needs to convince the majority of MPs, who are currently divided on the matter.
France is already a pioneer of environmentally friendly living with measures in place to reduce the country´s plastic waste
According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), plastic production in the EU is responsible for creating around 13.4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions each year, and France as a country produces some 13 billion plastic bottles annually. An anti-waste law has already prohibited single-use plastics such as cups, plates, cutlery, drinking straws and takeaway containers, and although the legislation currently doesn´t extend to plastic water bottles, drinking water fountains can be found easily accessible in towns across France. Many eating and drinking establishments also offer free tap water. This is advertised with a `L´eau de Paris´ logo, and signifies that people are welcome to pop in and fill their own reusable bottle free of charge.
French bottled water was the subject of scandal earlier this year
French bottled water was under the spotlight at the beginning of the year when huge food and drink company Nestlé was exposed for illegally filtering mineral water before bottling it, using banned techniques and without declaring the action to consumers. Ingrid Kragl from Foodwatch France, says that investigations have demonstrated that the food giant has been labelling its water, sold not just in France, but commonly in Europe and also worldwide, as `natural mineral water´, whilst using the illegal filtering methods, since the 1990´s. This has resulted in an act of fraud amounting to 3 billion euros according to Mediapart, a French independent research platform. Foodwatch filed a lawsuit against Nestlé back in February, demanding that the company faced appropriate legal consequences for its deception.
