France bans plastic packaging for fruits and vegetables from 2022

France will ban plastic packaging for almost all unprocessed fruits and vegetables beginning on Jan. 1, 2022, according to a report released by the French government on Oct. 11. The move represents the enactment of an EU-wide law voted for in 2020 aimed at reducing plastic waste, with France being the first country to implement it. The French government estimates that 37% of fresh fruits and vegetables are currently packaged in plastic and expects the new law to reduce waste by 1 billion plastic packages per year. The first stage of the anti-waste law saw certain other single-use plastics, mainly disposable tableware, banned in 2020. France went one step further in 2021, banning additional single-use plastic items, including plastic cutlery, straws, stirrers and takeaway cup lids. The next step of the French ban will apply to plastic packaging for fruits and vegetables sold in portions weighing less than 1.5 kilograms, irrespective of origin. Some of the vegetables that will be ...