The State Council, China’s cabinet, recently issued a directive banning the production of ultra-thin plastic bags for environmental reasons. The ruling also prohibits shops, supermarkets, and sales outlets nationwide from handing out free plastic bags starting on June 1, according to China News Agency. The imposition of fees on plastic bag usage is likely to influence consumer behavior in China and bring environmental benefits in the coming years.
The State Council, China’s cabinet, recently issued a directive banning the production of ultra-thin plastic bags for environmental reasons. The ruling also prohibits shops, supermarkets, and sales outlets nationwide from handing out free plastic bags starting on June 1, according to China News Agency. The imposition of fees on plastic bag usage is likely to influence consumer behavior in China and bring environmental benefits in the coming years.
Free plastic bags were first introduced in the 1980s in Guangdong province, where China’s commercial sector first boomed as the nation embarked on economic reforms. The overwhelming convenience of the light and waterproof carriers led the bags to rapidly supplant the more cumbersome traditional woven baskets throughout the country. Since then, decades of free bag handouts have instilled in consumers a mentality of “better more than fewer†and encouraged a wanton use-and-discard habit.
People in China use up to 3 billion plastic bags daily and dispose of more than 3 million tons of the bags annually, according to Market News. Most of the carriers end up in unofficial dumping sites, landfills, or the environment. According to scientists, it can take more than 200 years for the bags to dissolve in the natural environment, contaminating land and water and injuring or killing wildlife in the process.
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The new directive has met with mixed response. While environmentalists and concerned citizens welcome its potential effects on curbing pollution, many consumers are concerned about the possible inconvenience it brings. Some argue that the government should not take such a clear-cut mandate to shift environmental responsibilities to society, relying on consumers and businesses to shoulder the expense. They say the government should invest more in alternatives and educate people to make more sensible environmental choices.
Some supermarkets in China, including Wal-Mart stores, offer inexpensive cloth shopping bags on their shelves. But sales have typically been slow, as customers have been happy to receive free plastic bags. Meanwhile, on-campus activities by environmental groups that implemented charges for the bags resulted in reductions in daily usage of 80 to 90 percent.
While the new ban brings a foreseeable inconvenience to customers, the potential benefits to the environment and energy and resources conservation are huge. Dong Jinshi, Deputy Chairman of the Waste Plastics Recycling Committee of the China Plastics Processing Industry Association, has projected that the ban will likely reduce usage of the bags by two thirds, and the recycling rate is expected to rise by large margins. “In view of constructing an energy and resources saving and environmentally friendly society, we need to examine our old life habits and make improvements,†Dong said.
