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Councillor wants Amsterdam stores to stop handing out plastic bags

Supermarkets in Amsterdam are being asked to consider a voluntary ban on handing out free plastic bags to cut down on the city's litter problem.

Councillor Maarten van Poelgeest wants to work together with large stores to cut the number of bags being issued.

The scheme would have to be agreed with retailers as the city’s authorities have no power to enforce a ban.

The average Dutch household currently takes home 500 shopping bags a year, which adds up to 180 million in a city the size of Amsterdam.

Van Poelgeest raised the issue together with the Party for Animals (PvdD), which also wants to allow vendors of homeless newspapers to sell durable shopping bags.

Source: De Telegraaf: 'Verbod op plastic tasjes'

Photo by Rutger Middendorp