BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Sunday became the latest country to declare war on plastic bags in a drive to save energy and protect the environment.
Under new regulations, flimsy bags under 0.025 millimetersthick are banned and shopkeepers must charge for carrier bags.Those found breaking the law face fines and could have theirgoods confiscated.
Shoppers in downtown Beijing and in Internet chatroomsseemed largely sympathetic to the idea. China, which getsthrough three billion plastic bags a day, is increasingly awareof the damage to the environment caused by its breakneckgrowth.
"Sorry, I can't give you a plastic bag. It's illegal fromtoday," said one young woman, Zhang Lihua, who was sellingcosmetics in a department store in the capital.
China, which consumes 37 million barrels of crude oil eachyear to manufacture more than one trillion plastic bags, isfollowing in the footsteps of countries such as Ireland, Rwandaand Bangladesh. Italy is due to introduce a ban by 2010.
"To protect the environment, they shouldn't provide plasticbags," said one Internet posting on sina.com. "As time goes on,people will get into the habit of carrying their own bags whenthey go shopping."
Sceptics say the fate of the initiative will depend on howdiligent police and inspectors are in enforcing the law.
"Is there a ban on plastic bags?" asked a man in a cakeshop. "I didn't know. Anyway, maybe it'll take effect nextmonth. I'm sure no one is going to enforce that today."
Ultra-thin bags are the main target of the crackdownbecause they are typically used once and then thrown away,littering streets, fields and streams and creating what theChinese call "white pollution".
Chen Wei, a seller of steamed bread buns in centralBeijing, was still using ultra-thin bags on Sunday.
"When I've used them all up, I'll stop. Then my customerswill have to bring their own bags, or I will charge them twomao ($0.03) or so for a bag," Chen said.
(Reporting by Alan Wheatley; Editing by Valerie Lee)
