The use of paper bags could soon be on the rise in California.

The use of paper bags could soon be on the rise in California, after an assemblyman announced that he was in favour of a ban on plastic carriers.

In his first act of legislation in the role, Marc Levine will look to put in place a law against the use of such bags across the state of California because of the damaging effect they can have on the local environment.

It won’t be the first time that the idea has been mooted, with the plan detailed in Assembly Bill 158, unveiled on Tuesday (January 22nd), similar to a bill which was halted in the Senate committee last year.

Problems originally arose because of the criticism it drew from a number of plastic bag manufacturers and grocers, but Mr Levine told Mercury News that he wouldn't let the fact the bill had stalled before put him off.

He explained: "A similar bill was held up in the Senate, but that's not a reason to advance good public policy.

"This is about advancing good environmental policy and best business practices."

Mr Levine also asserted that plastic bag litter leads to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of animals each year and that their ban would see a reduction in beach debris of around ten per cent.

There are currently a number of individual laws in the state which ban, or at least prohibit, the use of plastic bags but the assemblyman said a simple, state-wide ban would help matters.

"We're trying to make it easier for people, because those laws would apply the same way," he told the newspaper.

"If oil and plastic companies want to put up a fight, we're on the right side of the argument."

However, the new bill is likely to need to come up with a solid solution to the costs of the ban.

Indeed, the last attempt to put such legislation in place only reached the Senate Appropriations Committee.

A report from the committee's staff found that such a ban would cost around $200,000 (£125,954) to implement, meaning it wasn't deemed viable at the time.

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