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Politics : The Environmentalist Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (19528)	1/11/2008 2:47:10 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Respond to of 36921

Shoppers in China will have to pay for plastic bags: govt Tue Jan 8, 11:55 PM ET BEIJING (AFP) - Shoppers in China will have to pay for plastic bags at supermarkets and other retail stores as part of a nationwide crackdown on the environmentally damaging items, the government has announced. The production, sale and use of plastic shopping bags thinner than 0.025 millimetres (0.001 inches) will also be banned completely, the State Council, or cabinet, said in a statement posted on its website late Tuesday. "Plastic shopping bags, due to reasons such as excessive use and inefficient recycling, have caused serious energy and resources waste and environment pollution," the statement said. "The super thin bags (those thinner than 0.025 mm) have especially become a main source of plastic pollution as they are easy to break and thus disposed of carelessly." The new rules will take effect starting June 1, the cabinet said, although it did not provide details on how much shoppers will have to pay for the bags. The statement said companies would be urged to produce bags that are more endurable and recyclable, while consumers will be encouraged to use plastic shopping bags more sensibly. In China, the overuse of plastic bags is a major problem. In the booming southern city of Shenzhen, at least 1.75 billion plastic bags are used each year, according to previous data released by local authorities and published by the official Xinhua news agency. Shenzhen's environmental protection department said the bags were posing a huge environmental problem, as they generally did not decompose for 200 years, while some never would at all, Xinhua reported. Ahead of the national directive, Shenzhen announced in November it was considering placing fees on the use of plastic bags, with fines of up to 50,000 yuan (6,800 dollars) for retailers that gave them away for free. However whether the national crackdown will be implemented remains in doubt, since local authorities are infamous in China for ignoring directives from the central government that aim to curb pollution among many other issues. news.yahoo.com

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (19528)	1/11/2008 2:52:24 PM
From: HPilot	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 36921

Environment Minister Peter Garrett said billions of bags were being thrown away every year, causing pollution and harming native wildlife. I don't know what's wrong with these people. You can recycle both plastic bags and paper. Most trash companies in the US do this as normal business. We have a plant here in Marietta, that seperates the garbage, takes out the metal, plastic, paper, and garbage. Almost all of it is recycled. The actual garbage, the left over food is ground and processed into organic fertilizer, little black pellets. Golf courses love it because it doesn't stink. Even if you do bury the paper, you are taking carbon out of the air.