During a press conference, Mayor of Sulaimani Awat Mohammad said that he has met with bakery owners to discuss implementation and that local factories have already begun producing paper bags in order to meet demand.
He added that he had also requested that factories also make fabric bags for bakery patrons to use.
Restaurants will also be subject to the ban, which will likely extend to other shops as well.
Plastic bags take years to disintegrate and can leach harmful chemicals into the water and soil when dumped in landfills.
Reporter's code: 50101