California remarkably cuts plastic bag litter in year-long experiment

California has successfully cut single-use plastic bag litter by 72 percent from the amount of 2010, local media reported Monday.



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



The drastic fall in the amount of plastic bag wastes was recorded one year after Californian residents voted for Proposition 67 in a state-wide ballot in November 2016, which prohibits grocery and other stores from providing customers with single-use plastic or paper carryout bags.



California became the first US state to ban plastic bags after Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill on single-use plastic bags ban on Sept. 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, local media reports said.



However, only 3 percent of them were recycled in California, leaving billions of plastic bags to scatter across its beaches, rivers, roads and neighborhoods.



About 60 percent to 80 percent of all marine wastes comes from plastic, which harms and kills wildlife in devastating numbers, media reports said.



Proposition 67 was approved by 52 percent of voters in the statewide ballot in 2016, which saved every Californian an average of about 400 plastic bags or 10 US dollars in a year.

