Taiwan Announces Ban on All Plastic Bags, Straws, and Utensils

All single-use plastic must be phased out by 2030.

Ordering take-out, picking up groceries, buying a soft drink — these are all activities that will change over the next decade in Taiwan when the island nation imposes a blanket ban on single-use plastic bags, straws, and cups, according to the Hong Kong Free Press.

It will be one of the farthest-reaching bans on plastic in the world, and it demonstrates the momentum of the anti-plastic movement as the scale of environmental harm caused by the substance is fully realized.

"We aim to implement a blanket ban by 2030 to significantly reduce plastic waste that pollutes the ocean and also gets into the food chain to affect human health," said Lai Ying-yaun, a Taiwanese Environmental Protection Agency official, in a statement.

Read the Global Citizen story by Joe McCarthy - “Taiwan Announces Ban on All Plastic Bags, Straws, and Utensils.”