Plastic-bag standards are going into effect in China.

New laws will take effect from June onwards in a move to crack down on one of the country's key environmental hazards.

The new standards forbid supermarkets and shops from handing out coloured plastic bags, which are mainly manufactured from waste plastic.

Bags will also have to have a thickness of no less than 0.025 millimeter, so that they can be reused.

Experts say the eventual goal of China's new standards is to change consumers' shopping habits.

It's estimated that Chinese people use up to three billion plastic bags a day.