Li Tianbo, an intern at this newspaper, and Li He, a reporter from this newspaper

Photo On May 4, at a plastic products company in Pudong New District, Shanghai, staff members cut semi-finished disposable foam tableware.

Since May 1 this year, disposable foam tableware has finally gotten rid of its 14-year-long "illegal" status and has been put on the dining table in broad daylight. Upon hearing the news of the lifting of the ban on foam tableware, Master Ma, who has run a small restaurant for 10 years, was also very happy. "Finally, I don't have to be sneaky!" He pointed to the bag of lunch boxes in the corner and told reporters that under the pressure of inspection, he usually uses qualified plastic lunch boxes, but if it is a large quantity of takeaway, he still chooses foam tableware.

"Plastic and paper disposable lunch boxes are piled together, and they become soft after a little longer delivery time, and it is particularly difficult to handle soup." Master Ma said that foam tableware is not only hard, but also has better heat preservation than the first two. The most important thing is that the price is very low, "one is only seven or eight cents, and the others are one or two cents."

The reporter noticed that there were no production license marks or plastic recycling marks on the lunch boxes he purchased, and the channel was "buy from wherever is cheaper".

Since 1999, disposable foam tableware has been banned due to pollution problems, and foam tableware without "name" has been hiding in the market. Now, the National Development and Reform Commission has revised the "Guidelines for Industrial Structure Adjustment (2011 Edition)", deleted disposable PS foam plastic tableware from the list of obsolete products, and it will take effect on May 1. Once the policy came out, it also aroused concerns from many parties: "Under the current technical conditions, is foam tableware safe?" "Can white pollution be effectively controlled?"

Is the safety performance of foam tableware guaranteed?

Foam tableware is synthesized from polystyrene resin material, which is referred to as "PS". At high temperatures above 80 degrees Celsius, it will decompose styrene monomers, posing a great threat to human health.

At the "Disposable Foam Tableware Seminar" held by environmental protection organizations such as Friends of Nature recently, Yang Huidi, a senior engineer at the Light Industry Processing Plastic Application Research Institute, said that theoretically, styrene monomers will not be separated as long as the temperature is not very high. According to the "National Food Polystyrene Raw Material Quality Standard", residual monomers below 5000ppm (million level) are completely harmless to the human body. "The standard for foam tableware this time is below 1000ppm. In the sampling survey conducted by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the highest monomer content in foam tableware on the market is 700ppm, which is completely qualified. Everyone can rest assured." Yang Huidi said.

Professor Ji Xing of the Chinese Academy of Engineering raised objections to this. He said, "According to Chinese eating habits, a lot of oil is used. The temperature of chefs cooking is higher than 360 degrees Celsius, and the hot oil is generally 240 degrees Celsius." At such a high temperature, not only can holes be burned in the foam tableware, but the styrene monomer will also be decomposed.

Dong Jinshi, president of the International Food Packaging Association, pointed out that driven by economic interests, most polymer manufacturers in China add recycled waste and scraps to the raw materials when producing polystyrene. "Some even add toxic substances such as fluorescent agents. These unqualified raw materials will precipitate a large amount of carcinogenic styrene during multiple high-temperature recycling processes."

It is reported that the use of industrial plastic waste to make recycled materials is widely used in the production of foam tableware. This gray industrial chain has long been commonplace in the industry.

What's worse is that "the current testing standards cannot detect these waste toxins." Dong Jinshi emphasized that although China's existing "Sanitary Standards for Polystyrene Resins for Food Packaging" and "Sanitary Standards for Polystyrene Moldings for Food Packaging" have strict standards for polystyrene in food packaging, "this standard is too low. Even if industrial waste raw materials are used, they are still qualified during testing."

Can pollution be solved by recycling?

14 years ago, foam tableware was banned because it was non-degradable and caused "white pollution." With the lifting of the ban, has the pollution problem been solved?

"According to current technology, foam tableware still cannot be degraded. The key to effectively controlling pollution depends on our recycling system." Yang Huidi said that there are many ways to recycle and reuse foam tableware. It can be added to biological waste as fuel to increase the calorific value; it can also be made into combustible solids and placed in iron-making furnaces as a carbon source.

However, Cao Yang from the China Renewable Resources Association expressed doubts about Yang Huidi's statement. She said that China's overall recycling system is still imperfect. In terms of foam tableware recycling, if the government does not introduce relevant measures, it is impossible to solve the recycling problem by relying on residents' self-consciousness. "The added value of foam tableware is very low. One ton of new PS material is only 13,500 yuan, which is not worth money." Moreover, foam tableware is very light, large in size but without weight, "it is difficult for the transportation party to make a profit."

Dong Jinshi said that even if the foam tableware can be recycled, the subsequent treatment is not so simple, and inadequate technology may cause secondary pollution. "Incineration does generate heat, but if the temperature is not high enough, toxic and harmful gases will be produced."

As a participant in the "2 cents" recycling of foam tableware in Beijing a few years ago, Dong Jinshi was troubled by the transportation and storage problems in the recycling process. "The used tableware is greasy and smells wherever it is placed; the recycling station also attracts many flies and rats, and the surrounding residents are very dissatisfied and have reported us to the municipal management department." He added that the lunch boxes are very dirty and need to be cleaned before disposal, which produces a lot of sewage. The cost of sewage treatment is expensive. If companies invest in sewage treatment equipment, "they will be dead", and if they do not treat it, it will cause serious water and air pollution. "This is a dead end, unless the government invests in it for public welfare."

According to a data provided by Zhang Di, a project officer of the Environmental Friends Science and Technology Research Center, China's foam tableware manufacturers can currently make a profit of 150 million yuan per year, but if each tableware is recycled at 6 cents, the annual funds required are as high as 900 million yuan. Regarding the suggestion of "whoever produces it is responsible for the treatment" put forward by the relevant association, Zhang Di believes that it is completely unfeasible under the current circumstances. "There are so many foam tableware manufacturers in China, and most of them are small factories, so supervision is difficult. Even with government subsidies, small manufacturers cannot afford the cost of recycling and processing." Ji Xing also pointed out that due to the high cost of processing, the recycling and processing of foam tableware is not done very well in some developed countries. If it is not handled well, it will often be transferred to underdeveloped countries. Foam tableware can often be found in the foreign garbage imported by China. Experts suggest that relevant standards and regulatory measures should be issued first. The public and experts have many concerns about the lifting of the ban on foam tableware. In summary, in terms of dealing with environmental and health issues, the suggestions are basically focused on the establishment of standards and the enforcement of supervision. Dong Jinshi emphasized that the most critical thing now is to formulate relevant standards specifically for foam tableware, set strict parameters for its raw materials, additives, and products; it is also necessary to raise the market entry threshold for foam tableware, rectify existing companies in the market, and revoke the business licenses of companies that do not meet the standards. Ji Xing said that after the standards are formulated, whether supervision can be in place is also a problem. It should be determined who will supervise. The National Development and Reform Commission lifted the ban on foam tableware, but "who is in charge? Who is responsible if it does not meet the standards? We cannot wait for the policy to come out and then look at the results, and we cannot conduct experiments." He said, "Since a policy has been issued, the possible positive and negative effects must be made clear." He also suggested that supervision should be carried out from the source of the product to the processing process until the final product, so as to achieve "full supervision".

In the absence of relevant standards, Dong Jinshi believes that the actual conditions for lifting the ban are not yet mature, and it will bring many problems if not handled properly. In his opinion, it is not impossible to restore foam tableware, but a pilot should be tried first, and public opinions should be sought during the promotion.

Li Bo, a member of the Friends of Nature Board of Directors, proposed that public participation should be emphasized. He believes that in the process of lifting the ban on foam plastics, the entire decision was very sudden, there was no public participation, and there was very little public information. "It is often said that as consumers, we are both the creators and victims of environmental problems. So how can the general public participate in the environmental governance process, including the decision-making of environmental issues? If the public does not know the information about the formulation of relevant policies, there is no question of participation and expression. When policies are formulated and implemented and everyone wants to take action, the relevant departments take an attitude of ignoring, not paying attention, not caring, and not participating. I think this will make the public very disappointed."

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