Modbury town shopkeepers in Devon that banned oil-based plastic bags on Tuesday are selling alternative starch-based bags made from Mater-Bi.
Manufactured by Italian firm Novamont, Mater-Bi is a bioplastic that conforms to European compostable packaging standard EN13432.
Biobag in the UK has supplied Modbury shops with up to 60,000 Mater-Bi bags which are being sold alongside paper, reusable cotton and jute bags.
Modbury resident and BBC wildlife camera woman Rebecca Hosking is behind the ban. She decided to take action after filming the impact that plastic waste has on wildlife on the Hawaiian island of Midway.
Shopkeepers were shown a preview of this film – from the BBC’s Natural World series – which helped convince them to sign up. But Hosking added that the problem is already affecting communities closer to home.
She said: “I see what a lot of residents see because we are very close to the sea - if you go to any of the local beaches you see a lot of plastic bags."
Hosking and supporters have also established a scheme where residents can have their plastic bags recycled into furniture. She added that the bag ban was the easiest way to stop people dumping them and raise awareness.
However, ideally Hosking argued that a recycling infrastructure for plastics needs to be established in order to tackle the problem properly. She added that plastic bags already in circulation should be recycled.
She said: “We are not saying plastic is bad at all - if it is used wisely.”
