WELLINGTON, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Submissions are rolling in from across New Zealand on the government's proposed phase-out of single-use plastic shopping bags, with more than 4,000 received.

"New Zealanders have called on the government to take action on single-use plastic bags," Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage said in a statement on Thursday, adding earlier this year she received a petition signed by 65,000 people calling for an outright ban on these bags.

"We want to hear from as many people as possible about factors like how fast we move and which types of plastic bags are included in the mandatory phase out," Sage said.

Ultimately phasing out single-use plastic shopping bags will mean a change for all New Zealanders when they purchase their groceries and other retail goods. This is an opportunity for people to have their say on how New Zealand makes this change, she said.

"We use hundreds of millions of single-use plastic shopping bags every year in New Zealand. Far too many of these end up in the environment, particularly our marine environments where they are harming marine life and entering the food chain, which is a real concern for human health," the minister said.

Submissions are open until Sept. 14.