Zero-tolerance to non-recyclable plastic bags

SEVEN YEARS AFTER China introduced a bill forbidding supermarkets and shopping malls to offer consumers non-biodegradable plastic bags for free, Chinese shoppers reportedly still consume a great number of them every day. Some supermarkets even rake in considerable profits by charging shoppers for plastic bags. Beijing Youth Daily calls for a stricter ban on the production of non-degradable plastic bags:

Many Chinese shoppers might have forgotten the regulation restricting the use of non-degradable bags introduced seven years ago. Low quality non-biodegradable plastic bags, for example, are always available at small grocery vendors for free, due to the lack of coordinated enforcement of the ban on their use.

And those available for a small charge in supermarkets and shopping malls are also popular among customers, most of whom are willing to pay for 0.2 yuan (3 cents) for such a bag.