MANILA, Philippines -- A Manila councilor proposes to ban the use of plastic bags in all of the city's business establishments.

Under Councilor Numero Lim's proposed ordinance, all supermarkets, grocery stores and other retail business establishments should use paper bags, bayong (woven grass or buri bags) and other biodegradable containers for packaging dry goods and grocery items.

Lim said the establishments could also provide sturdier bags like those made of cheesecloth (katsa) to regular customers who could use them repeatedly. Should some firms insist on using plastic bags, they could opt for the biodegradable type, he added.

"We'll introduce a plastic bag which disintegrates after six months. These can be used for goods sold in the public market's wet section like meat, fish and vegetables," he explained.

Lim said he has started talks with mall owners in the city to raise awareness on the effects of plastic bags on their health and the environment.

Environmental advocates like the Mother Earth Foundation have also vowed to form a coalition with other groups to gather support for the ordinance, he added.

Lim said violators would be fined P5,000 or face one year in prison. The business license of a company would also be automatically canceled.

The Metro Manila-based EcoWaste Coalition, in the 2006 assessment of the trash floating in Manila Bay, said that plastic bags as well as synthetic packaging materials like plastic foam made up more than three-fourths of the garbage found in the bay.

Plastics take a thousand years to disintegrate and gradually release toxins into the water and soil, the group added.