The EPA is currently examining improved measures to reduce the consumption of plastic bags and expand restrictions on more enterprises. The entities targeted for the new controls are still being assessed. Once the draft of regulations is preannounced, the EPA will hold public hearings and discussion meetings with all concerned stakeholders. The EPA expects that the new regulations will be ready by the end of 2016 at the earliest, and targeted entities will be given an adequate grace period to make the necessary adjustments. The public is generally aware that plastic products are not biodegradable and thus can harmfully impact the environment, including marine organisms and fish which further affect human health indirectly. To reduce the public’s reliance on plastic bags, the EPA is concentrating on persuading consumers to get into the habit of taking their own bags when out shopping. The volume of waste can be reduced if fewer products are thrown away after a single use. To encourage the uptake of reusable shopping bags, in 2002 the EPA began rolling out plastic bag reduction measures, such as requesting seven major sources – including hypermarkets and supermarkets – to start charging customers for plastic bags. Following implementation of the measures, the major sources reported a drop in plastic bag use of 58%, from 3.435 billion to 1.43 billion annually. On 27 July 2016, the EPA invited Taiwan’s environmental groups to a meeting to discuss how to further reduce the use of plastic bags. The consensus was that all enterprises should be forbidden from offering free plastic bags, and the charge for each bag should be decided by each enterprise for itself. Other issues, such as the next batch of entities to be targeted and the thickness for the paid plastic bags are still being evaluated. The EPA expects to have a draft of relevant regulations ready by the end of 2016 at the earliest.