Seizing the initiative
Last summer, Piatkowski tabled a local regulation introducing a ban on the free handing out of plastic bags at local retail outlets, which the Lodz City Council approved. A measure to introduce the ban within respective municipal limits also met with approval from city councils in Tychy, Zabrze, Inowroclaw and Gdansk, but here ran into difficulty.
First off, the Lodz regional governor struck down the Lodz regulation as unconstitutional, alleging that it violates the principle of economic freedom. "The governor's ruling stalled not just the Lodz initiative, but also those in other Polish towns where similar regulations were ready to pass to a vote," Piatkowski explains. "But local governments were waiting for the Lodz governor's reaction."
In her ruling, Lodz Regional Governor Jolanta Chelminska stated that a ban on plastic bags could only be instituted by the Sejm (Poland's Parliament) if it constituted a "significant public interest." Faced with this setback, Piatkowski and local politicians from other towns and cities turned the focus of their campaign energies toward building a persuasive argument that such a ban is, indeed, of significant public interest.
On February 17, representatives of the 'anti-bag movement' met in Lodz in order to kick-start a potentially more effective strategy. This time around, city council representatives from across Poland, making a concerted effort, managed to collect 1,000 signatures under the so-called 'citizens' draft law' to change portions of the Packaging Law now in effect.
This was the first step toward persuading the Sejm to add the draft to its agenda, but a further 100,000 signatures need to be collected in order to submit an official draft to the parliamentary body. Only then will MPs be required to commence deliberation on the draft.
"I'm pretty confident that collecting the 100,000 signatures requirement won't prove a problem," says Piatkowski. "Since the Lodz initiative got through to the media, I have received hundreds of phone calls and emails with support from across Poland. And we also have the support of environmental NGOs."
According to the draft law on banning plastic bags, a copy of which Piatkowski showed to Green Horizon before its official presentation to the Sejm, "retail and services must not [give out] non-biodegradable packaging [free of charge]." But the draft text also includes a proviso that the Environment Ministry should come up with a list of goods for which such packaging may be used — fresh fish, for example.
