By Donna Leanne Bradley-Brown •
Updated: 23 Oct 2024 • 9:38 • 2 minutes read
Could France be leading the way in environmentally friendly living in Europe? With a new bill proposed to ban small plastic water bottles, the country is certainly making an effort.
French politician, Pierre Cazenueve, of President Emmanuel Macron´s Renaissance party, is on a mission to stop the availability and purchase of all 33cl, 25cl and 17cl bottles, saying that they are “completely absurd” and “environmental nonsense” as the diminutive water containers use some 20-25 grams of plastic for every 3-4 sips drank [Saskia O´Donoghue, Euronews, 22/10/2024].
The proposed law (which as yet doesn´t mention banning bottles of 50cl or more) is estimated to be approved by many of the French public, following the results of a recent poll, but will require a fair amount of legislation before it is granted approval.
OpinionWay conducted the study as research for two environmental organisations charities No Plastic in My Sea and Zero Waste France and the vote revealed that around two-thirds of French residents would support the ban. Cazeneuve just needs to convince the majority of MPs, who are currently divided on the matter.
Is buying plastic water bottles bad for the environment?
According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), plastic production in the EU is responsible for creating around 13.4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions each year, and France as a country produces some 13 billion plastic bottles annually.
An anti-waste law has already prohibited single-use plastics such as cups, plates, cutlery, drinking straws and takeaway containers, and although the legislation currently doesn´t extend to plastic water bottles, drinking water fountains can be found easily accessible in towns across France.
Many eating and drinking establishments also offer free tap water. This is advertised with a `L´eau de Paris´ logo, and signifies that people are welcome to pop in and fill their own reusable bottle free of charge.
Nestlé admits to illegally treating bottled water in France
French bottled water was under the spotlight at the beginning of the year when huge food and drink company Nestlé was exposed for illegally filtering mineral water before bottling it, using banned techniques and without declaring the action to consumers.
Ingrid Kragl from Foodwatch France, says that investigations have demonstrated that the food giant has been labelling its water, sold not just in France, but commonly in Europe and also worldwide, as `natural mineral water´, whilst using the illegal filtering methods, since the 1990´s.
This has resulted in an act of fraud amounting to 3 billion euros according to Mediapart, a French independent research platform. Foodwatch filed a lawsuit against Nestlé back in February, demanding that the company faced appropriate legal consequences for its deception.
Sign up for personalised news
Subscribe to our Euro Weekly News alerts to get the latest stories into your inbox!
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don’t already have one. Review our
Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Written by
Donna Leanne Bradley-Brown
Originally from the U.K., Donna Bradley-Brown first moved to Mallorca in 2002. She immediately fell in love with the island and knew it was destined to be her home. Donna is particularly passionate about animals, art and the environment. If you have a news story she would love to hear from you at [email protected]
[Photo Credit @caroixyz]
Leave a comment Cancel reply
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Comment for robots
Known as the PEOPLE’S PAPER, Euro Weekly News is the leading English language newspaper in Spain. And it’s FREE!
Covering the Almeria, Axarquia, Costa Blanca North, Costa Blanca South, Costa del Sol , Costa Calida, Mallorca and beyond, EWN supports and inspires the individuals, neighbourhoods, and communities we serve, by delivering news with a social conscience. Whether it’s local news in Spain, UK news or international stories, we are proud to be the voice for the expat communities who now call Spain home.
With around half a million print readers a week and over 1.5 million web views per month, EWN has the biggest readership of any English language newspaper in Spain. The paper prints over 150 news stories a week with many hundreds more on the web – no one else even comes close.
Our publication has won numerous awards over the last 25 years including Best Free Newspaper of the Year (Premios AEEPP), Company of the Year (Costa del Sol Business Awards) and Collaboration with Foreigners honours (Mijas Town Hall). All of this comes at ZERO cost to our readers. All our print and online content always has been and always will be FREE OF CHARGE.
Sign up for personalised news
Subscribe to our Euro Weekly News alerts to get the latest stories into your inbox!
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don’t already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Close
