The big environmental stories in the Chinese media this week (17-23 July)
China is increasing efforts to limit plastic production and use. In mid-July, nine ministries issued a joint directive that includes detailed stipulations and end-of-year targets.
This is a follow-up policy document to “the new plastic restriction order” issued in January. That order set targets for banning and limiting certain plastic products. It also looked to construct a comprehensive system for managing the entire life cycle of plastics, from production to recycling. The “old plastic restriction order” was the 2008 State Council directive banning the production of plastic bags thinner than 0.025 mm, and requiring retailers to charge customers for plastic bags.
The old order had not been well implemented, and had also been quickly outpaced by the expansion of plastic use, including by the e-commerce and food delivery sectors. This prompted the authorities to introduce new and more ambitious policies.
End-of-year targets in the new directive include a comprehensive ban on plastic shopping bags thinner than 0.025 mm (yes, again), as well as on polyethylene mulch films thinner than 0.01 mm, cotton swabs, foam meal boxes, personal care products and toothpastes containing plastic beads. Meanwhile, non-degradable plastic bags, tableware and straws will be partially banned, predominantly in urban service sectors.
The impending ban of non-degradable products creates vast business opportunities for the bio-degradable plastics industry. Southern Weekend ran a story earlier this month depicting the suddenly-booming sector, whose growth in China has been sluggish at best. So far, the sector has been plagued by problems of cost, usability and durability. Other challenges include shortages of raw material like polylactic acid, lack of industrial standards and regulation (hence low quality and even fake products), and incompatibility with the garbage-sorting system. That system is still far away from being able to pair bio-degradable plastics with compostable waste, partially defeating the purpose of using biodegradable products.
Read more about China’s decade-long battle against plastics waste here.
This is a follow-up policy document to “the new plastic restriction order” issued in January. That order set targets for banning and limiting certain plastic products. It also looked to construct a comprehensive system for managing the entire life cycle of plastics, from production to recycling. The “old plastic restriction order” was the 2008 State Council directive banning the production of plastic bags thinner than 0.025 mm, and requiring retailers to charge customers for plastic bags.
The old order had not been well implemented, and had also been quickly outpaced by the expansion of plastic use, including by the e-commerce and food delivery sectors. This prompted the authorities to introduce new and more ambitious policies.
End-of-year targets in the new directive include a comprehensive ban on plastic shopping bags thinner than 0.025 mm (yes, again), as well as on polyethylene mulch films thinner than 0.01 mm, cotton swabs, foam meal boxes, personal care products and toothpastes containing plastic beads. Meanwhile, non-degradable plastic bags, tableware and straws will be partially banned, predominantly in urban service sectors.
The impending ban of non-degradable products creates vast business opportunities for the bio-degradable plastics industry. Southern Weekend ran a story earlier this month depicting the suddenly-booming sector, whose growth in China has been sluggish at best. So far, the sector has been plagued by problems of cost, usability and durability. Other challenges include shortages of raw material like polylactic acid, lack of industrial standards and regulation (hence low quality and even fake products), and incompatibility with the garbage-sorting system. That system is still far away from being able to pair bio-degradable plastics with compostable waste, partially defeating the purpose of using biodegradable products.
Read more about China’s decade-long battle against plastics waste here.
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