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Bye to plastic bag full of trouble

By Wang Jingqiong (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-02 11:42

A shopper puts groceries he bought in his own bag after stores in China stopped giving free plastic bags at a supermarket in Beijing June 1, 2008.  [Agencies]

The State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) said retailers who continue to provide free plastic bags would be fined between 5,000 yuan and 10,000 yuan.

The SAIC started a special campaign yesterday to monitor the sale of plastic bags. "Department stores, supermarkets, groceries and plastic bag retailers will be under special watch during the campaign," the SAIC said.

A Social Survey Institute of China study, covering 1,000 people in 10 major cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, shows 69.2 percent think the ban will have limited impact on environmental protection because many people will continue using plastic bags.

Ma Fengluan, a plastic bag wholesaler, said medium-sized, ultra-thin plastic bags good enough to carry 6 kg cost 0.06 yuan each. A thicker one of the same size cost 0.15 yuan, and the difference is too little to be noticed by customers.

Adjusting to a life without plastic bags will be a problem for some people, experts said. But if customers change their habit, and pick up cloth bags again, the environment could be spared a little.

The ban poses a challenge to plastic bag manufacturers too. About 60,000 plants in the country make plastic bags, with Guangdong province alone accounting for 10,000 of them.

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