Italian organic retailer EcorNaturaSì has teamed up with NGO Legambiente to introduce reusable bags for fruit and vegetables. The first initiative of its kind in Italy, it provides for the distribution of 100,000 reusable bags for fruit and vegetables in more than 500 specialised organic stores under the banners NaturaSì and Cuorebio.

The move comes after the introduction of the new European directive to reduce plastic pollution, which proposes a ban on single-use plastics, such as drinking straws. According to Eurostat data, Italy is the seventh largest producer of plastic waste in Europe, and in the last 16 years, per capita production has increased slightly from 34.19 kilograms to 35.05 kilograms per year.