Ra'anana has become the first city in Israel to begin recycling plastic bags, installing 25 large containers around the city specifically to collect the unwanted items, reports www.local.co.il. The collected bags will be sent on to a factory in Hadera specializing in manufacturing items from recycled materials. According to the report, plastic bags are a serious cause of ecological damage, swelling the volume of garbage dumps, polluting city streets, endangering drivers, passengers and pedestrians by flying onto car windscreens, and harming animals that try to eat them and sometimes choke to death. In cooperation with the Amnir company, which is already responsible for collecting waste paper and cardboard for recycling, Ra'anana has now installed 25, 1,500-liter containers around the city to collect plastic bags. The grey-colored containers have been marked with large labels stating, in Hebrew, that they are for the collection and recycling of plastic shopping bags. Mayor Nahum Hofree said Ra'anana was a "pioneering city on the front of action for the environment," and that the city would continue to invest in recycling activities with the aim of creating a better world for future generations.