Local police. 610 thousand non-compliant plastic bags seized
Local police. 610 thousand non-compliant plastic bags seized
In the last two years, over 8,5 million non-compliant shopping bags have been recovered by the Milan anti-illegal activity unit.
Milan, February 18 2020 – An operation starting from an inspection at the weekly market in via Marco Aurelio led to the seizure by the anti-illegal activity unit of the local police of Milan of 610 thousand non-compliant plastic bags.
The offender, a 24-year-old citizen of Moroccan origin, was fined 18.400 euros for having placed bags on the market that did not meet the requirements of compostability, biodegradability and reusability and for having carried out commercial activities without authorisation. In fact, after having witnessed the sale of bags to the market operators for consideration, the agents identified the person who was selling them and checked the van he used for transport and distribution, inside which a first tranche of approximately 70 thousand bags without labeling and logos indicating legal requirements, name and location of the manufacturer.
The inspection activity was then extended inside a condominium garage in the Farini area where, from a previous observation activity, it had been ascertained that the offender went with the van several times a week and where other 540.000 plastic bags. A sampling of eight types of bags was sent to ARPA laboratories to verify, through appropriate analyses, their real composition.
The operation was born as part of the action to combat the marketing of bags that do not comply with the requirements established by the Environmental Code, which in 2018 and 2019 led to the seizure by the Anti-illegal Unit of the Local Police of Milan of 8,5 millions of non-compliant plastic bags and the identification and sanctioning, between Milan and the province, of 15 bag and packaging distributors who supplied illegal bags to operators of weekly markets and commercial activities in fixed locations. In some cases people have also been investigated for commercial fraud.
European regulations indicate specific measures to Member States to contain the use of plastic bags and the Italian State has set itself, in application of these directives, the objective of a progressive reduction over time by introducing a ban on the marketing of bags without of the legal requirements:
they cannot be made with a thickness lower than that required by the standards. The required thickness depends on the commercial establishment for which it is intended and the shape of the bag;
before being placed on the market, they must be certified as biodegradable and compostable by accredited bodies;
they must contain a certain quantity of renewable raw material which, starting from 1 January 2020, cannot be less than 50%.
Possession of these requirements must be verifiable by the consumer through wording and trademarks printed on the product.
The pecuniary administrative sanction envisaged ranges from a minimum of 2.500 euros up to 25.000 euros and can be increased up to four times the maximum (100.000 euros) in the event that the violation of the prohibition concerns 'large quantities', represents an economic value greater than 10%. % of the offender's turnover or if false labeling is used (a false wording can constitute the crime of fraud in trade).
