recycling

It added: "While this approach is proving to be effective, wherever appropriate the authority will still seek to take action against offenders who refuse to use the waste and recycling system properly."

The suit said Bonta’s investigation included a statewide survey to verify whether recycling facilities accepted plastic bags for recycling, and only two claimed to accept the bags, but couldn’t confirm if they were actually recycled.

What investigators discovered, he said, was that these thicker, reusable plastic bags were not accepted at a majority of recycling facilities.

Since then, Tokyo has pushed hard to diversify supplies, signing deals with the Australian group Lynas for production from Malaysia, and ramping up its recycling capabilities.

Plate tectonics are essential because they regulate carbon dioxide through the carbon-silicate cycle, recycling the gas between the atmosphere and the planet's crust.