In many countries of the world, there has been a phase-out of lightweight plastic bags. Single-use plastic shopping bags, commonly made from low-density polyethylene plastic, have traditionally been given free to customers by stores when purchasing goods—a popular method considered a strong, cheap, and hygienic way of transporting items. Problems associated with plastic bags include use of non-renewable resources , disposal, and environmental impacts. Governments all over the world have taken action to ban the sale of lightweight bags, charge customers for lightweight bags and/or generate taxes from the stores who sell them. The Bangladesh government was the first to do so in 2002, imposing a total ban on the bag. Such a ban has also been applied in countries or regions such as Rwanda, China, Taiwan, Macedonia and Kenya. Some countries in Europe impose a fee per bag. Bans, partial bans, and fees have been enacted by some local jurisdictions in North America, Australia, and Myanmar. Concurrently with the reduction in lightweight plastic bags, shops have introduced reusable shopping bags.
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