According to the new rules approved Tuesday in the European Parliament, all member states need to reduce the usage of the most commonly used plastic bags.

The new legislation set on ensuring a beneficial situation for all parts, as stated by EU MP Margrete Auken. She is a member of the party of the Greens in Denmark and has been responsible for outlining trends in a report.

The matter concerns a huge ecological problem. Millions of plastic bags are going directly in nature in the form of unprocessed garbage. This harms the environment, fish, and birds and we must deal with this problem, added Auken in her speech.

EU member states will have two options. The first one will involve implementing measures to reduce the average annual usage of non-biodegradable plastic bags to 90 per capita by the end of 2019 and subsequently to 40 by 2025. Alternatively, local governments need to guarantee that the bags will not be offered for free to mcustomers.

Meanwhile, the European Commission will need to evaluate the impact that oxo biodegradable polymers have on the environment and to evaluate the necessary measures to limit it.

Additionally, by end 2017 the commission needs to propose measures for labeling distinctly the biodegradable and compost plastic bags that need to be implemented throughout the entire EU.

Reportedly, in 2010 every EU citizen has used an average of 198 plastic bags. If no severe measures are implemented, it is expected that their usage will continue to grow. Close to 8 million plastic bags were thrown away only in the EU in 2010.