China's Biggest Plastic Bag Maker Closes After Ban

China's war against "white pollution" has claimed its first large-scale victim with the closure of the country's biggest plastic bag manufacturer.

The shutdown of Suiping Huaqiang Plastic, which employs 20,000 people, highlighted the social costs of a government drive to clean up one of the world's most polluted environments.

It comes less than two months after the state banned production of ultra-thin bags and ordered supermarkets to stop giving away free carriers from June 1.

That surprise move - which went further than anything done by the US, the UK and many other developed nations - was hailed by Greenpeace, Earth watch and other green groups as a sign of growing environmental awareness in China.

But it was a disaster for the company, which earned most of its 2.2bn yuan (£155m) income from the annual production of 250,000 tonnes of bags.

The firm ceased production in mid-January, after the government announced the new ban on bags under 0.025mm thick.

"Over 90% of our products are on the limit list, so the only way forward for the factory is closure," a management official told the Xinhua news agency. The closure is unlikely to be the last. Judging from their speeches, Chinese leaders are increasingly anxious about foul air, filthy water and unhealthy levels of pollutants. The crackdown on plastic bags is part of a campaign against "white pollution" - the term used to describe the visual eyesores caused by Styrofoam trays and carrier bags, which snag on trees and get blown far and wide by the wind.

Supermarkets give out 1bn plastic bags every day, while shops and restaurants use double that amount. Plastic packaging accounts for an estimated 5m tonnes of crude oil each year.