Cyprus Ranked Fourth in Europe for Plastic Bag Consumption

According to data from the European Statistical Agency Eurostat, Cyprus ranked fourth in the EU for plastic bag consumption in 2022.

The published figures reveal that, thanks to measures introduced by EU member states since 2021, plastic bag usage has decreased by 14%.

The countries with the highest per capita consumption of plastic bags in 2022 were Lithuania (249 bags per person), Latvia (193), and the Czech Republic (185). A significant portion of consumption in these countries consists of very lightweight plastic bags, each less than 15 microns in thickness.

Cyprus came in fourth, with 166 plastic bags consumed per person.

For bags thinner than 15 microns, the average use was 82.3 bags per person, while those between 15 and 49 microns were used 83.8 times per person.

The lowest consumption of plastic bags was observed in Belgium (4 bags per person), Poland (7), and Portugal (13).

On average, EU citizens used 66.6 lightweight plastic bags per person in 2022.

In total, 29.8 billion lightweight plastic bags were used across the EU, which is 4.7 billion fewer than in 2021.