A number of steps

The EU will also make available $122 million for research into technical innovations to tackle the problem of plastic waste.

The commission has already taken a number of steps to try to reduce plastic waste, including the banning of free single-use shopping bags. It has also been mulling proposals to levy a tax on plastic packaging, something that was proposed last week by Guenther Oettinger, the executive's budget commissioner. The commission's latest move follows several recent announcements in Europe aimed at addressing the growing problem of plastic waste.

Earlier this week, supermarket chain Iceland, which specializes in frozen foods, said it would eliminate or drastically reduce plastic packaging on all of its own-label products by the end of 2023. It also said it would pressure its suppliers to do likewise.

And fast food giant McDonald's, which has 37,000 sites worldwide, said this week that all of its packaging throughout the world would come from sustainable sources by 2025.

The BBC reported that both companies were responding to overwhelming demand from customers to make packaging more environmentally friendly.

Theresa May, Britain's prime minister, had earlier pledged to ban all avoidable plastic waste in the UK by 2042.