4.7 billion fewer lightweight plastic bags in 2022

In 2022, each person living in the EU consumed on average 66.6 lightweight plastic carrier bags (LPCBs). This marked a decrease of 10.8 bags (-14%) per person compared with 2021. 

In total, 29.8 billion lightweight plastic carrier bags were consumed across the EU in 2022, marking a decrease of 4.7 billion bags from 2021.

This information comes from data on lightweight plastic carrier bags published by Eurostat today. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article on consumption of plastic carrier bags.

Source dataset: env_waspcb

Only 4 lightweight plastic carrier bags per person in Belgium

Among the EU countries with available data, the countries that reported the highest consumption of LPCBs per person in 2022 were Lithuania (249 bags per person), Latvia (193) and Czechia (185), with the majority of the consumption relating to very lightweight plastic carrier bags (VLPCBs), i.e., bags with a wall thickness of less than 15 micrometres (microns). 

Source dataset: env_waspcb

In contrast, the countries that reported the lowest consumption were Belgium (4 bags per person), Poland (7) and Portugal (13). 

All EU countries now have consumption reduction measures in place as required by the Plastic Bags Directive, which aims to reduce the consumption of LPCBs to not exceed 40 bags per person by 31 December 2025 (this target does not include VLPCBs).

The variation in per capita consumption is mainly due to differences in the effectiveness of measures, influenced by economic, social and policy factors. Additionally, some countries implemented consumption reduction measures during 2018–2022, while others had them in place for a longer period. A third factor is the use of different calculation methods across EU countries.