Danish PM's ban on plastic bags encounters mixed reactions from MPs

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has announced a ban for the free plastic bag while Parliament divided on the decision on Sunday.

The PM's decision made on Saturday will double the tax on plastic bags and disposable services and ban the delivery of free carrier bags throughout the country.

"There is so much plastic in the seas now that it is equivalent to throwing a whole truck of plastic directly into our ocean every 24 hours. For me, plastic pollution has become the symbol of a world population that does not fit properly on its globe, " local newspaper Politiken quoted Frederiksen as saying.

The government estimates the increase in taxes means that a plastic bag will be 15 Danish cents more expensive to purchase.

However, the decision has left Christiansborg Palace, the Danish Parliament divided.

"She is kicking an open door in," said Soeren Espersen, a member of the right-wing Danish People's Party, to Xinhua.

"It's a non-story because there are no shops in Denmark that I know of, that do not charge you for plastic carrier bags. Why make a law out of something that exists already?" asked Espersen.

Christian Juhl, a member of the Danish eco-socialist political Party of Red-Green Alliance, supports the government and told Xinhua, he viewed the prime minister's announcement as a symbolic gesture.

"Of course the door is a little bit open but we are only at the beginning," said Juhl.

Juhl explained that we should see the decision rather than an increase from the low price Danes are presently paying. He considers that the increase would help find new solutions.

"I think it's good that the government wants to be involved with this question. She (Frederiksen) is raising this question to an international level."

The Danish PM stressed the international importance of her decision in an interview with Politiken Saturday.

"Taking responsibility for the world seas, I think, is also a Danish task. For me, it is first and foremost about reducing plastic consumption. "

The new taxes are part of the government's upcoming finance law and will bring in 30 million U.S. dollars to the Treasury from 2020, according to the government's own calculations.

It is anticipated that the new law will cut the consumption of plastic bags and disposable services by 20 percent.

The higher plastic taxes are only the first of a series of steps Frederiksen's government intends to take to make Denmark greener. The prime minister is also considering aircraft fuel charges, as proposed by the Radical Left.