California Brings Down Its Plastic Bag Litter By 72% Within 7 Years

San Francisco: California has successfully cut plastic bag litter by 72 per cent, according to a new report.

The report released on Monday quoted early statistics as showing that the plastic bags now account for only less than 1.5 per cent of all litter, compared to nearly 10 per cent in 2010.

The drastic fall in the amount of plastic bag waste was recorded one year after Californians voted for Proposition 67 in a state-wide ballot in November 2016, which prohibits grocery and other stores from providing customers with plastic bags, reports Xinhua news agency.

California became the first US state to ban plastic bags after Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill on single-use plastic bags ban on September 30, 2014.

Before Proposition 67 was approved, about 15 billion single-use plastic bags were sold to Californian consumers, draining about 2 million barrels of oil in the process.

However, only 3 per cent of them were recycled in California, leaving billions of plastic bags to scattered across beaches, rivers, roads and neighbourhoods.

About 60 to 80 per cent of all marine wastes come from plastic, which harms and kills wildlife in devastating numbers.

Also Read: Plastic Waste: How Different Countries Are Handling Plastic And What India Can Learn