Pierre Cazeneuve, deputy of Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party, was the architect of a bill in France to ban plastic bottles of less than 50 centilitersa container of which 90% of sales contain water.
According to Cazeneuve, these containers, generally of 33, 25 and 17 centiliters, represent a “environmental nonsense» because of the amount of plastic they use in proportion to the water they contain.
twice as much plastic
This proposal responds to the challenge that the planet must meet with a material that already pollutes twice as much as we thought. Information that emerges from the study An inventory of local and global macroplastic pollution emissions published in September by the scientific journal Nature.
It shows that the annual quantity of plastic that ends up in the planet’s ecosystems is double what was calculated until now. Specifically, There are more than 52 million tonnes per year that pollute fields, rivers and seas.
“The Kingdom of the Absurd”
In this context of the fight against plastic in France, the MP calls for the disappearance of the shelves of supermarkets and stores and ban the sale of bottles of less than 50 cl.
A measure that seems to please the French and for which they are rather favorable and that they find it completely logical not to have plastic bottles of less than half a liter on hand…
In a video published on his X profile, Renaissance MP Pierre Cazeneuve explains this proposal. “They need three 17 centiliter bottles to make one of 50… “We are really in the realm of the absurd,” he explains.
17cl, 20cl, 25cl, 33cl: still in 2024, tens of millions of micro-formats of plastic bottles are produced in France each year, a real ecological absurdity.
👉This morning I am proposing a bill aimed at banning them! pic.twitter.com/ZMF1V3JnDE
-Pierre Cazeneuve (@PierreCazeneuve) October 14, 2024
“Four sips of water”
He is also interested in the material used and the disproportion between the mass of plastic used and the quantity of liquid it contains. In reference to 17 centiliter bottles: “SThis represents between 20 and 25 grams of plastic for just four sips of water», he comments insistently.
The bill presented to the National Assembly contains a single sentence which modifies an article of the environmental code. It would ban, from 2027, “the production, distribution, sale, supply and use of single-use plastic packaging intended to contain liquids of less than fifty centiliters.
It is for this reason that the majority deputy of Altos del Sena decided to present a bill aimed at banning small format bottles. Now you have to convince your colleagues to its ban will be activated from January 2027.
Political support
If the support of environmental associations is obtained,It still remains to gather a parliamentary majority and to confront the lobbies of the drinks industry.although their companies obtain the highest margins in small formats, to realize the proposition.
The young French MP affirms that “they have also already shown me their support in a direct and spontaneous way”. many deputies from different groupswhether from the right or the left, between ecologists, socialists and LR.
25 grams of plastic
The politician behind this measure stressed that These small bottles use up to 25 grams of plasticeven if they only provide a few sips. The bill highlights the negative impact of plastic bottles on the environment in France.
In the French country At least 13 billion of these containers are produced each yeara large part of which is not recycled and ends up in the oceans, thus seriously contributing to pollution.
And 90% of plastic bottles contain mineral water in 33 centiliter format. The latter is the most common size among the approx. 2 billion single-use plastic bottles of 50 centiliters or less which are sold each year in France.
The French, favorable
Cazeneuve believes that eliminating these small containers would be a step towards more responsible and sustainable management plastic resources in their country.
“The plastic bottle is the first plastic waste found on European beaches», underlines Muriel Papin, general delegate of No Plastic In My Sea, who adds that small formats, mainly consumed outdoors, present a greater risk of dispersion.
French public opinion is in favor Following a survey in April 2024 commissioned by the associations Zero Waste France and No Plastic in My Sea: nearly two out of three French people are in favor of banning small plastic bottles.
Lack of commitment
Three quarters of those questioned They regret the lack of efforts on the part of the public authorities to reduce the consumption of plastic bottles.
This step also raises the question of how the French will be able to hydrate in the absence of these small formats, so they talk about using non-disposable bottlesalthough it is also emphasized that a greater presence of water points is necessary.
