Focus on Arts and Ecology

China’s plastic bag regulation is getting reviewed on its 10th anniversary. While adoption of the order intended to curb plastic bag use proved successful in pharmacies and supermarkets, with supermarket plastic bag use reduced by two-thirds since 2016, People's Daily reports that street vendors regularly give banned plastic bags – those less than 0.025 mm thick – to customers free of charge, which violates the 2008 regulation.

The bag ban was launched before internet take-away and express delivery services became popular and so its effectiveness has been hindered by changes to plastic bag usage. In response, the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s economic planner, has stated it plans to adapt the policy as it pertains to e-commerce, express delivery and take-away services, although no details have been released yet.