Lhasa: China has banned ultra-thin plastic bags in ecologically fragile southwestern Tibet Autonomous Region.
In a circular Friday, the government ordered all prefectures and counties to replace these bags with the cloth ones.
The move is mainly aimed at tackling pollution at tourist sites, Xinhua reported.
The government has banned the manufacture, sale and use of plastic bags that are under 0.025 mm thick by the end of this year to curb "white pollution" in the region.
Although Beijing had banned these bags in the country two years ago, many remote Tibetan areas are yet to implement it.
The ultra-thin plastic bags are targeted as they are typically used as "use-and-throw", littering the streets, fields and streams and creating the white pollution.
IANS
First Published: Friday, July 16, 2010, 22:32