In the past 20 years, Albania has witnessed a substantial economic growth. The introduction of mass consumption has also lead to an enormous increase in consumer waste, including plastic bags and other wrapping material. Very often this plastic ends up in the environment, polluting streets, rivers and ultimately seas and oceans.

In Albania, almost every item that is sold comes with a free plastic bag, many of which end up littering the Albanian countryside or polluting Albanian rivers. Therefore, the UN, Italian Embassy, OSCE Presence and Green Line Albania joined forces with the supermarket chain CONAD to raise awareness among the Albanian public on the need to reduce the use of plastic bags.

For three weeks, CONAD customers were asked for a voluntary monetary contribution for each plastic bag used in CONAD shops in Tirana and in some other regions. At the same time, CONAD and the organizations involved undertook a public awareness and information campaign, aimed at making citizens aware of the harm caused to the environment by the plastic bags and calling on them to act responsibly and consume with care.

The municipality of Tirana, through its mayor Erion Veliaj, took up the challenge and promised to ban free plastic bags in supermarkets by World Environment Day 2017. In March 2017, CONAD was joined by many of the other supermarkets in Tirana, to introduce a small fee for each plastic bag, leading to a 50% reduction in the use of plastic bags within a few months. The next step is to get bakeries, fruit & vegetable sellers and other small shop owners to join this initiative.