New Zealand’s Prime Mister Jacinda Arden returned from her maternal leave with a big announcement: New Zealand is set to ban plastic bags in the coming year. Under the new law, retailers in the country will be given six months to stop providing lightweight plastic bags or face fines of up to NZ $100,000. The country currently has one of the highest rates of urban waste production per capita in the developed world, with roughly 154 bags used per person per year.