• China's Plastic Bag Ban Will Save 37 Million Barrels of Oil
• Australia plans to abolish bags by end 08
• Modbury UK
• Leaf Rapids, Manitoba
• Bejing - April 2007
• San Francisco Ban - March 2007
• Hong Kong
• UK Waste Campaign
• Ten Ways to Cut Waste -Europe
• Success in Malta: December 2006
• Higher Levy in Ireland
• Bhutan bans the bags: 2007
• France Plan Ban in 2005 for 2010
• Bombay Ban
• India
• Coles Bay, Tasmania
• IKEA in Oz
• Irish Success
• Irish Levy
• Kenya
• South Africa Ban
• Scotland
• Banish the plastic bag

IKEA are today opening the biggest "Plastic Bag Free" store in Australia.

From Thursday, December 2nd 2004 

 In a push to reduce the 6.4 billion plastic bags used in Australia every year, the new IKEA store at Homebush Bay Drive will not be using any plastic bags at the checkout.

Shoppers will be encouraged to bring their own bags, use a trolley to take goods to their car, or buy a big blue reusable bag for $1.50 (cost price).

When it comes to reducing plastic bag use, IKEA are Australia's best performing retail chain. Since banning plastic bags in January, 84% of all IKEA Perth customers have chosen not to use any IKEA bags when shopping there.

IKEA's Australian stores also introduced a 10 cent charge for plastic check-out bags in February 2002. Since then, IKEA has reduced their plastic bag usage by up to 87%. The IKEA result has validated Planet Ark's call for a charge or levy to be put on plastic bags in order to reduce their use.

"To Planet Ark, it makes sense not to use plastic bags at all. After all, the plastic bags IKEA don't use, don't have to be produced, recycled or disposed of, so they immediately save on resources and energy," says Jon Dee, the Founder of Planet Ark.

The IKEA plastic bag ban is a big boost to Planet Ark's "Plastic Bag Free" campaign.  "IKEA are showing other retailers that they can survive without offering customers free plastic bags at the check-out," says Dee. "We urge other non-supermarket retailers to follow the IKEA lead."

At least 100,000 animals are killed every year by plastic bags. Only 5% of plastic bags are currently being recycled in Australia.

For interviews, please contact Jon Dee on 0414 971 900