EU to curb use of thin plastic bags

The European Parliament has voted to limit the use of thin plastic bags, the most commonly used ones in the EU.

EU citizens are estimated to use almost 100 billion plastic bags per year, or roughly 200 per head per year.

The vast majority of those are lightweight bags, thinner than 0.05 mm. They are often used only once as they are prone to ripping and about 8 billion bags is estimated to end up as litter in the environment.

Under the new rules adopted on Tuesday, EU count...