Rules for plastic products aim to curb urban pollution

The prevention of plastic pollution has become a topic of high concern for the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED). Since 2017, the CCICED has conducted many Special Policy Studies on marine pollution prevention and control, green urbanization, and green consumption.

With the support of its partners, and drawing upon its relevant research and advanced international experience, the CCICED made a proposal on preventing plastic pollution to the Chinese government, which attached much importance to it.

China and Canada made a joint statement on marine litter and plastics at a meeting between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Singapore on November 14, 2018.

Moreover, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued a document on January 19, 2020 urging reduction in the nationwide use of single-use, non-degradable plastics and parcel packaging in the next five years. Both the joint statement and the document demonstrate the positive contributions made by the CCICED to environmental protection.

Modern life would be unrecognizable without plastics, but the dark side of the convenience they bring cannot be ignored. It is estimated that the annual global production of plastics will hit nearly 1 billion tons by 2050, double the figure in 2015.

Cartoon: Cai Meng/China Daily

However, after being used for a short time — to be precise, 12 minutes on average for each of the 5 trillion single-used plastic bags consumed each year — most of the plastic products will be dumped. They will persist in nature for years before breaking into granules and becoming part of the food chains.

That's why the document China issued on January 19 on curbing plastic pollution is a welcome one.

The country will gradually restrict or ban the production, sales and use of certain plastics while promoting their degradable, recycle-friendly alternatives, according to the document issued by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

By 2025, China expects to effectively control plastic pollution, substantially reduce the amount of plastic waste in landfills of key cities, establish a complete plastics management system and make progress in the development of alternative products, said the document.

The production and sales of single-use foam plastic tableware and plastic swabs will be banned by the end of 2020. Production of daily chemicals containing plastic microbeads, production will be banned by 2020 while their sales will stop by 2022.

The document also reiterates prohibitions on the production and use of thin plastic bags and polyethylene agricultural films, as well as on the production of plastic products with medical waste and imports of plastic waste.

The document has set step-by-step timetables for the next five years to reduce the use of single-use, non-degradable plastics and parcel packaging.

For instance, non-degradable single-use plastic straws will be banned by the end of 2020, while non-degradable single-use plastic tableware will be banned from dining-in in cities. By the end of 2022, the ban on plastic tableware will be extended to dining-in in rural areas.

By the end of 2025, the use of non-degradable single-use plastic tableware for take-out in cities should be cut by 30 percent, according to the document.

Moreover, all hotels and guesthouses should stop using single-use plastic wares by 2025, while postal and express service outlets should cease using non-degradable plastic packaging, plastic tape and single-use plastic woven bags.

A girl throws a plastic bottle into a garbage can in Chongqing, Southwest China, July 4, 2019. [Xinhua]

In the meantime, China will encourage the use of alternative materials such as non-plastic products and degradable shopping bags and urge efforts in the recycling and disposal of plastic wastes, the document said.