France Bans Plastic Dishes, Cups and Utensils read more at here www.spinonews.com/index.php/item/916-france-bans-plastic-dishes-cups-and-utensils

France has passed a new law to ensure all plastic cups, Dishes and plates can be composted and are made of biologically-sourced materials.

France is saying goodbye to plastic dishes, cups and utensils as a new law that will be fully implemented in 2020 bans the use of disposable dishes unless they are made from biologically sourced materials and are compostable.

The initiative is a part of the country’s Energy Transition for Green Growth Act, which aims to tackle climate change and the same legislation that also outlawed plastic bags in grocery stores and markets beginning in July.  France is the first country to extend the plastic ban to dishes and cutlery.

Plant-based disposable products are often more expensive than petroleum-based products.  Many of the plastic wastes end up in the ocean, where these are broken down into tiny fragments that can impact marine life.

Some Organizations have already started producing alternatives to plastic ware. These products are derived from processed plant starch, bio plastics and old paper.

Companies representing packaging manufacturers are fighting the ban, saying that it violates European Union commerce rules. On the other hand Supporters of the Plastic ban wanted it to be introduced earlier, possibly as soon as 2017. But the French environment minister Ségolène Royal, had initially considered it an “anti-social” provision, on the grounds that low-income families relied on plastic utensils and plates.