JERUSALEM, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Israeli consumption of plastic bags decreased by 80 percent in 2017 than the year before, according to Israeli Environment Ministry on Sunday.

The ministry said sharp reduction was attributed mainly to a law from 2016 that put restrictions on big supermarkets chains. The "plastic bag law" was sponsored by the Environment Ministry in order to reduce environmental pollution from plastic.

Supermarkets in Israel have supplied customers with more than a billion plastic bags per year for free before 2016. Since the bill came into effect, the supermarkets were forced to charge 0.1 new shekels (about 0.027 U.S. dollars) for one bag.

Nowadays, the ministry said it works on a new plan to continue the reduction of plastic bags usage not only in supermarkets but in all the stores in Israel.