The city of São Paulo, Brazil has implemented a new law banning giveaway plastic bags in stores and supermarkets, which could soon be implemented in other major Brazilian cities.

The law states that plastic bags must be composed of at least 51 percent renewable materials, such as corn or sugar cane. However, the new green bags being sold at supermarkets for R$0.08 to R$0.10 each are causing an uproar, as people do not like the idea of paying for bags that were previously free.

Although the website of the world's leading producer of biopolymers, Braskem, highlights the advantages of green polyethylene products made of dehydrated sugarcane ethanol, the new recyclable bags, unfortunately, are not biodegradable or compostable.

The main issue with the new bags is that garbage collection and disposal in Brazil is a serious problem. Although it has improved in the past few years, half the garbage produced across the country still ends up in open dumps in the countryside, rivers, and the ocean. From an environmental point of view, the new green bag is not a great improvement over conventional plastic bags, but one hopes that [plastic_bags_are_killing_us] charging for bags at supermarkets and stores may help reduce the amount of bags in garbage dumps.