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The city of Los Angeles - the second-largest city in the US with four million inhabitants - has announced it will ban all plastic bags from stores as of July 1, 2010, following similar anti-pollution regulations already enforced in San Francisco.
After that date, all store customers must provide their own bags or purchase bags made of paper or other biodegradable material from the store for US25c.
The goal is to rid the city of around 2.3 billion non-biodegradable plastic bags that are distributed each year and end up polluting waste dumps. In 2007 San Francisco, 600km north of LA, became the first US city to ban plastic bags from its stores. Both city regulations are intended to pressure state politicians who are considering a bill to eliminate plastic bags across the state by 2012.
