ZIMBABWE has announced it is imposing a phased ban on plastic shopping bags, a minister said, “for causing pollution, killing wildlife, and using up precious resources of the earth.”

Environment Minister Francis Nhema recently held a meeting with the large supermarket chains and representatives from the plastics industry to discuss the proposals.

The minister said: “Even though plastic bags are one of the modern convenience goods that many seem to be unable to do without, they are responsible for causing pollution, killing wildlife, and using up the precious resources of the earth.

“Once used, most plastic bags go into rubbish dumps but they still find their way into our waterways, parks, and streets because they are non-biodegradable ... their decomposition takes up to a 1,000 years.

“Destruction of plastics by burning is not an option either as this causes air pollution and depletion of the ozone layer which protects the earth against the sun’s harmful rays.”

Nhema, who announced this week that the country would also ban second hand car imports as well as impose a carbon emissions standard on vehicles, said plastics choke marine life and were responsible for the deaths of 5,000 animals annually – including donkeys, cattle, sheep and goats.

“An ingested plastic bag remains intact even after the death and decomposition of the animal, thus it lies around on the landscape where another victim may ingest it,” the minister added.

The minister advised retailers and all businesses which use plastics to start in earnest moving away from the plastic dependency to paper carrier bags which can easily decompose.

Zimbabwe joins a growing list of countries trying to break the plastic bag addiction. In some countries, the bags normally given for free to shoppers are now sold to discourage their use. Some shops also sell what are called eco-bags which can be used many times over.

Although plastic bags did not come into widespread use until the early 1980s, environmental groups estimate that 500 billion to one trillion of the bags are now used worldwide every year.