by Chen Meihua

    YANGON, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar has been working for elimination of plastic bags as part of its efforts in environment conservation in the country, introducing various measures including banning the use of them, ordering producers to stop plastic production and destroying plastic waste since June this year.

    The ban on use of small and thin plastic bags started first in the second largest city of Mandalay and then the tourist site of Bagan and the new capital of Nay Pyi Taw.

    Not long after the announcement of the ban, the authorities seized and destroyed a total of 321 kilogram small and thin plastic bags from five townships in Mandalay and confiscated and destroyed a total of 297 kg of such bags from markets in Nay Pyi Taw.

    In Yangon, although the formal ban on using the small and thin plastic bags is not yet in place, the authorities have ordered plastic producers to stop such production, having set an ultimatum for the end of November.

    However, at the request of the producers, the authorities extended the ultimatum to another four months for stopping plastic bag production under a system which will monitor if the companies will abide by the policy of reduce, reuse and recycle of plastic over the extended period.

    The authorities have also extended program of creating plastic-free zones to Myitgyina and Sagaing in northwestern part of the country and urging the public to re-use paper bag, cloth bag, banana leaf and tree leaf instead in packing grocery.

    Moreover, it launched a program of collecting disposed plastic bags in the city and re-using them in production of plastic pipes as part of its bid in environment conservation.

    Meanwhile, Japanese government said it will help the country produce energy from plastic waste disposed in the city of Yangon and to facilitate the work, city dwellers are being advised to dispose their plastic waste separately for burning process.

    In the latest development, Myanmar entrepreneurs are planning to set up new plastic recycling factories next year to produce daily necessities from recyclable plastic waste in an effort to conserve natural environment.

    As such establishment is the first ever of its kind in the country, to gain experience for the set-up, the entrepreneurs are planning study trips to related factories in China to obtain technical know-how for the implementation and such trip will be extended to Thailand and Malaysia, private industry circle said.

    The plastic recycling factories are set to transform plastic waste to electricity to be transmitted to industrial zones.

    According to the Yangon municipal authorities, there is a total of 146 plastic industries in Yangon and disposal of used plastic bags in the city amounted to 200 tons per day.

    The city disposed a total of 31 million tons of used plastic bags annually.

    For several decades, Myanmar people have been widely and traditionally using small and thin plastic bags for packing things and even food in markets and restaurants as well as packing rubbish for throwing, building up a large amount of garbage daily for disposal.