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Australia takes on 6.9 billion plastic bags mess |
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| AUSTRALIA: December 24, 2002 | ||
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SYDNEY - Australia announced a crackdown on plastic bags yesterday, aiming to get supermarket chains and retailers to slash litter by 38 million bags by the end of 2004.
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Possible measures include a charge on the 6.9 billion plastic bags used by Australia's 20 million people every year and setting the supermarkets "ambitious" targets for recycling, Environment Minister David Kemp said. "The plastic bag problem is first and foremost a problem of litter," Kemp said in a statement. "The challenge for Australia is not the 6.9 billion plastic bags used each year, but the 50 to 80 million that end up as litter. We must stop this incredible number of bags finding their way into the litter stream, where they are lethal to marine and other wildlife." The government aimed to cut that litter by at least 75 percent, a minimum of 38 million bags, Kemp said. The minister met state environmental officials yesterday and agreed to set retailers a 50 percent recycling and reduction target for lightweight plastic bag use over the next two years, under a voluntary code of practice. Kemp said the federal government and its state level counterparts would draw up relevant legislation over the next six months.
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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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