LOS ANGELES HAS followed in Ireland’s footsteps and banned plastic bags.

Some ten years after the Irish issued a tax on plastic bags here, the LA City Council voted on Wednesday to phase out plastic bags over the next 16 months.

Los Angeles is the largest city in the US to approve a ban on plastic bags at supermarkets.

The Los Angeles Times reports that shoppers will need to bring reusable bags or purchase paper bags for 10 cent each.

Other Californian cities that have banned plastic bags are San Jose, San Francisco and Long Beach.

Councilman Ed Reyes called on Sacramento to follow suit saying, ”Let’s get the message to Sacramento that it’s time to go statewide”.

The ban is a result of complaints from environmental activists that the bags are polluting waterways and filling landfills.

Reporting on Ireland’s taxing of plastic bags, The New York Times states that within weeks Ireland’s plastic bag use dropped 94 per cent.

There were no plastic bag makers in Ireland at the time of the ban but in LA an industry group warned that the council’s decision will threaten the jobs of 2,000 workers statewide.