The global movement against single-use plastic bags gathered further momentum yesterday after the South Australian state government said it would ban bags from next year.
Federal environment minister Peter Garrett said earlier this year that the government would introduce bag legislation by the end of the year, either banning single-use bags or imposing a levy upon them.
However, according to reports in Australia's Daily Telegraph South Australian Premier Mike Rann said the state will ban plastic bags from the start of next year regardless of the federal government's eventual decision.
"We started the anti-plastic bag fight and we are pushing ahead regardless of whether a nationally consistent approach is agreed to in the meantime," he said.
He added that a ban in South Australia alone would result in 400m fewer plastic bags entering the waste stream each year and urged other states to follow suit in introducing legislation.
The news comes a week after reports emerged that the ban on plastic bags that is to be introduced in China from June has claimed its first victim following the closure of one of the country's largest bag manufacturers.
According to Xinhua reports, the factory in Henan Province stopped production in mid January. It employed 20,000 staff and produced 250,000 tons of plastic bags per year.
A management official at the facility was quoted as saying the decision was a direct result of the government's high-profile crackdown on plastic bags. " Over 90 per cent of our products are on the limit list," the official said. "As a result, the only way forward for the factory is closure."
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