December last year, within the framework of the title Ljubljana, European Green Capital 2016, the City of Ljubljana introduced the campaign »I’m not lasting, but therefore less annoying« to promote the use of environment-friendly bags.

At the beginning of the campaign we and the public company Ljubljanska parkirišča in tržnice (JP LPT) distributed 127,000 biodegradable bags made of corn starch and 1600 paper bags made from Japanese knotweed among the vendors renting stalls in Ljubljana’s markets and their customers.

The company JP LPT already launched a public procurement procedure for the supply of biodegradable bags. The procedure is in its final phase and they predict the renters at Ljubljana’s markets will be able to buy the first bags in the beginning of April 2017.
In future renters at Ljubljana’s markets will also be allowed to use biodegradable bags purchased elsewhere under the condition that they are appropriately certified (imprinted certificates on the bags confirming the credibility of biodegradability).

Customers at Ljubljana's markets are encouraged to use their own shopping bags or baskets which would further reduce the use of different types of packaging. Namely, plastic bags are a big burden for the environment therefore by reducing their use we can demonstrate our responsible attitude towards the environment.

The initiative to replace classic plastic bags is part of the commitment of the City of Ljubljana to attain high environmental standards while complying with the European legislation in this area. The aim of the City of Ljubljana is to gradually replace plastic bags with environment-friendly ones wherever possible within this year and encourage other users to do the same.