Retailers have long considered plastic bags basic to good service. Supermarket clerks toss tofu, eggs and ice cream into individual clear plastic bags to prevent a mess should the products' own wrapping somehow break. More plastic bags are often provided just in case, then it all goes into bigger shopping bags.
But concerns that the estimated 30 billion plastic shopping bags utilized every year are contributing to global climate change when incinerated have prompted the government to call for restraint.
The April 1 revision to the Containers and Packaging Recycling Law of 1995 requires retailers generating large amounts of plastic waste to cut back. Businesses must report to the government every year on what efforts they have taken toward this end, and face fines if no improvement is made.