(Guardian)
Updated: 2008-01-09 11:15

China is to ban the use of some plastic bags and to force consumers to pay for others in its latest move to save on resources and ease the pressures on its environment.

The country's cabinet, the state council, today announced it would restrict the production, sale and use of all plastic carrier bags as part of the country's war on waste.

As many as 3 billion plastic bags are used in China each day, putting intolerable pressure on the country's valuable resources and helping to ruin the environment, the council said.

From June 1, it will ban the production of the super-thin and poor-quality bags currently handed out in vast quantities by supermarkets, and will also require shoppers to either pay for other bags or to reuse old ones. Producers and retailers failing to comply will be prosecuted under the product quality law, it said.