In a bid to scale back garbage in Japan, consumers in the country will be encouraged to bring their own chopsticks and carry reusable shopping bags.

The cabinet on Tuesday approved a recycling plan that aims to reduce annual waste to 25.3 million tons — or 40 per cent of the amount of garbage produced in 2000. The cabinet set a deadline of 2015 to achieve the goal.

"We are still lacking efforts. We have not been able to break away from the mass consumption society," said Tsuyoshi Kawakami, a spokesman for the Environment Ministry.

The plan, which stopped short of issuing an outright ban on plastic bags, will also promote more eco-friendly modes of transport, including bicycles and the public transportation system.

Japan is just one of many places to announce plans to scale back consumer waste. In March 2007, San Francisco became the first North American city to ban non-recyclable plastic bags made from petroleum products.

In April 2007, the Manitoba town of Leaf Rapids became the first Canadian municiplity to prohibit plastic sacks. Other regions in South Africa, Ireland and Taiwan have placed additional fees and taxes on the bags to discourage use.

With files from the Associated Press