Italy: consumer behavior after plastic bags ban in 2018, by gender
Plastic bags across European countries
Because of the ban on free bags, Italian consumers must now pay for their plastic bags, even if biodegradable. They might then decrease their use of plastic bags and follow the example of consumers in Denmark. According to a 2018 poll, 34 percent of Danish customers never buys plastic bags from the supermarket, while 27 percent tends to reuse the bag at least five times before throwing it away. Furthermore, the results of a survey conducted in March 2018 in the Netherlands showed that half of the consumers did not miss plastic bags at all.
Alternatives to plastic bags
Alternatives to plastic bags in food shopping are many. For instance, in Germany consumers often use their own baskets, backpacks or fabric bags.