He says that despite the ban, some hawkers continue to secretly sell plastic bags, hiding them in their pockets.

BBC: Rwanda gets tough on plastic bags

"They don't want to just sell low-end plastic toys, they want to sell biomedical devices, " says Seattle lawyer Dan Harris, who specializes in China business issues.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Vast mounds of rubbish fester on the city's streets where the truly destitute sift for scraps of aluminium or plastic to sell in a hand-to-mouth struggle to survive.

BBC: Aleppo's winter of discontent

But getting companies to make the switch from traditional materials to plastic is no easy sell.

FORBES: Chemical transformation

Last week Plastic Logic announced that it will never sell a Que e-reader.

FORBES: Photos Of The E-Reader You'll Never Own

But getting companies to make the switch from traditional materials to plastic, despite its advantages, is no easy sell.

FORBES: Chemical Transformation

People sell everything here - vegetables, cooking oil packed in 50ml (yes 50ml) plastic tubes, sugar by the tablespoon - anything really.

BBC: Queuing has become a fact of life in Harare

These items range from original artwork by Spider-Man illustrators such as Steve Ditko to cheap plastic toys from the 1970s, the oldest and rarest of which can sell for thousands of dollars each.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Sell or trade them on a site like Card Avenue, Swapagift.com, or Plastic Jungle.

FORBES: Consumers Bear The Risk With Gift Cards