Wales has been urged to lead the United Kingdom in the elimination of plastic bags.
Campaigners yesterday presented two different strategies to a cross-party group of AMs at the National Assembly.
The Assembly is seeking a transfer of powers from Westminster in the areas of environmental protection and waste management which could enable the necessary law to be passed.
The Marine Conservation Society favours a ban which could save turtles swimming off the Welsh coast from being killed by eating plastic bags, which they mistake for jellyfish.
Welsh beaches are particularly badly hit by litter. In Wales there are 57 plastic bags per kilometre, compared to a UK average of 44.
Keep Wales Tidy would prefer a levy on bags that could change the behaviour of shoppers and encourage consumers to use their own bags.
Tegwyn Jones, the group
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