The retail outlets in Moldova will be unable to sell disposable plastic bags. The Liberals’ relevant initiative was passed by Parliament in the final reading on July 7.

For large trading units, the law takes effect immediately, for those with an average and small area – on January 1, 2018, while for mobile or temporary stationary retail outlets – in 2020.

In Moldova, each person uses 140 disposable bags on average a year, which is a total of about 420 million bags annually. These decompose in several hundred years and emit toxic gases when they are burned. The bill authors earlier said the production of starch bags is a solution given that there is a surplus of this substance in Moldova.

The sale of disposable plastic bags will be fined 5,000 to 7,500 lei in the case of private individuals and 5,000 to 10,000 lei in the case of legal entities.