The picture shows the report made by Beijing Times before the ban on foam tableware was lifted last year.

Beijing Times reporter Hu Xiaohong and intern reporter Teng Xinhui

On February 16, 2013, the National Development and Reform Commission announced that "disposable foam plastic tableware" (hereinafter referred to as foam tableware) would be removed from the list of obsolete products, and the ban would be implemented on May 1, 2013. Since then, this former culprit of white pollution has returned to the market openly after being banned for 14 years.

Now, it has been nearly a year since the ban on foam tableware was lifted. After the ban was lifted, what is the current situation of foam tableware manufacturers? Has the work mentioned by the National Development and Reform Commission when lifting the ban on foam tableware production license management, industry access, recycling system construction, environmental protection and supervision and law enforcement been fulfilled? The International Food Packaging Association found that there are still many problems in the production and supervision of foam tableware.

1¡õ Current situation

Waste processing tableware is still common

In April last year, one month before the ban on foam tableware was lifted, a reporter from the Beijing Times visited several foam tableware companies in Jiangsu and Zhejiang and reported on the widespread use of waste plastics as raw materials and the dirty and messy production environment. Now that nearly a year has passed, how has the current status of foam tableware production changed?

The International Food Packaging Association, which has long been concerned about the foam tableware industry, recently conducted a survey of foam tableware companies and markets in various places. Dong Jinshi, president of the association, told reporters yesterday that since the Spring Festival, the association has investigated 70 to 80 foam tableware production companies with legal industrial and commercial business licenses in Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Fujian, Guangdong, Shaanxi, Hebei and other places. However, the situation found in the survey is not optimistic. More than 90% of the surveyed companies still use waste plastics as raw materials, some of which are mixed with good materials and waste materials, and some are completely processed with waste materials. The companies with prominent problems are mainly concentrated in Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian and Jiangxi.

According to the International Food Packaging Association, food-grade polystyrene resin should be used to produce foam tableware. This raw material is white and odorless resin particles. However, they found in their investigation in Zhejiang that the raw materials used by one company are black resin particles. These black resin particles are generally processed by crushing recycled waste tape boxes, waste foam lunch boxes, shock-absorbing blocks, insulation boards, advertising boards, etc. In another factory in Zhejiang, they also found that the factory used recycled pharmaceutical plastic packaging and cosmetic plastic packaging as raw materials.

2¡õ Strange phenomenon

Unqualified raw materials but qualified products

Strangely, the foam tableware processed with waste plastic as raw materials all showed qualified when its hygiene indicators were tested. This is exactly the same as the gutter oil being almost all qualified according to the edible oil testing indicators.

Dong Jinshi told reporters that since last year, the association has sent the black resin raw materials and foam tableware finished products taken from the above-mentioned investigated factories to formally qualified testing agencies for testing many times. The test results are basically: the sensory perception of the resin samples is "unqualified", but the hygiene indicators are all "qualified"; the sensory and hygiene indicators of the foam lunch box samples are all "qualified".

"The sensory perception of the tested resin samples is unqualified because their appearance color is not the "white particles" required by the national standard, but their hygiene indicators are all qualified, and the hygiene indicators of the foam lunch boxes produced are also qualified. This strange phenomenon is the main reason for the chaos in the foam tableware market-the hygiene indicators of tableware produced with waste materials are also qualified. This is the same as the melamine milk powder and gutter oil raw materials that are unqualified, but all the test indicators are qualified." Dong Jinshi said.

"Qualified products do not mean qualified raw materials, and qualified products do not mean product safety." Dong Jinshi told reporters that according to their investigation, before the ban was lifted, in fact, about one-third of China's foam tableware companies used qualified raw materials, and their products were mainly exported; other companies either used waste materials completely for production, or mixed good materials with waste materials. After the ban was lifted, the number of companies using waste materials increased, because products processed from waste materials also passed the test, and waste materials are much cheaper than good materials.

3¡õ Suggestions

Enforcement should not put the cart before the horse

The reporter consulted public information and found that China's current "Sanitary Standards for Polystyrene Resins for Food Packaging" clearly stipulates that the sensory indicators of polystyrene resins suitable for making food containers and packaging materials are: white particles, no odor or foreign matter. Since there is such a regulation, law enforcement departments can fully investigate and punish companies that use waste materials based on it.

"But what we know is that the quality supervision departments in most parts of China only use the test results of finished tableware as the basis for investigation and punishment, and do not look at whether the raw materials are qualified." Dong Jinshi said that in fact, this is a way of supervision that puts the cart before the horse, which indulges the illegal behavior of enterprises. "It is meaningful only to start supervision from the raw materials, that is, the source. If the raw materials are unqualified, the product should be directly judged as unqualified, otherwise it will become a joke just like the qualified detection of gutter oil."

The reporter learned from the International Food Packaging Association that the association drafted a "Suggestion on the Supervision and Investigation of the Production and Processing of Disposable Foam Plastic Tableware Using Waste Plastics" based on the above investigation results, and submitted the suggestion to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the Quality Supervision Bureaus of 16 provinces and cities including Hebei, Shanghai, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Hebei. Judging from the feedback information, local quality supervision departments attach great importance to this and have increased law enforcement efforts. The Chuzhou Quality Supervision Bureau of Anhui recently sealed up two foam tableware factories, and the Jinzhou Quality Supervision Bureau of Hebei also recently sealed up the products of a local foam tableware company.

"We want to take this action to suggest and urge relevant national departments to formulate and improve relevant policies, regulations and standards for foam tableware as soon as possible." Dong Jinshi said that at the regulatory level, we should not condone illegal enterprises to produce inferior foam tableware due to imperfect policies and standards. "For example, law enforcement personnel should conduct surprise inspections at production enterprises from time to time; clearly require that workshops and storage warehouses for the production of foam tableware must be separated from other non-food product workshops and warehouses, and non-food grade raw materials and products must not appear in foam tableware production workshops and storage warehouses."

Link

The history of the ban and lifting of the ban on foam tableware

¡ïChina produced the first batch of foam tableware in 1984.

¡ïFoam tableware began to be used on trains in 1986.

¡ïIn 1991, the Ministry of Railways began to study the treatment of white pollution caused by foam tableware along the railway.

¡ïIn May 1995, the Ministry of Railways completely banned the use of foam tableware in railway stations and trains. ¡ïIn January 1999, the State Economic and Trade Commission required that foam tableware be eliminated in China by the end of 2000.

¡ïIn December 2001, the State Economic and Trade Commission, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, and other departments explicitly required all localities to strengthen supervision and inspection of the elimination of foam tableware.

¡ïIn 2005 and 2011, the National Development and Reform Commission twice included foam tableware in the list of eliminated products in the "Guidelines for Industrial Structure Adjustment".

¡ïIn February 2013, the National Development and Reform Commission issued "Order No. 21", deleting foam tableware from the list of eliminated products and announcing the lifting of the ban on foam tableware from May 1, 2013. This move has aroused doubts from all walks of life.

4¡õ Reporter Investigation

After the "No. 21 Order" was issued last year, the National Development and Reform Commission gave the reason for lifting the ban on foam tableware on March 20 of that year, and stated that "the relevant departments are stepping up preparations for production license management, industry access, recycling system construction, environmental protection and supervision and law enforcement, to ensure a smooth transition and smooth implementation of the adjustment of foam tableware items".

The reporter contacted the National Development and Reform Commission yesterday to inquire about the current progress of the above statement made by the National Development and Reform Commission last year. As of press time, the National Development and Reform Commission has not responded.

Production

The market access system has not been implemented

It is understood that during the period when foam tableware was banned, China had already implemented a market access system for plastic packaging for non-foaming food.

On July 18, 2006, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China officially launched the "Market Access System for Plastic Packaging, Containers, Tools and Other Products for Food" in accordance with the relevant spirit of the "Decision of the State Council on Further Strengthening Food Safety Work" issued by the State Council in September 2004. It regulates and manages disposable non-foamed plastic tableware enterprises from seven aspects: quality and safety management responsibilities, enterprise environment and site requirements, production resource provision, procurement quality control, production process control, product quality inspection and production safety protection. The quality of disposable non-foamed plastic tableware products and enterprise management have been greatly improved.

In September 2006, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China issued Document No. 133 - "Notice on the Implementation of the Market Access System for Plastic Packaging, Containers, Tools and Other Products for Food", which clearly stipulates that products involving national industrial policies shall not apply for production licenses, and products that continue to be produced will be listed as illegal production, and foam tableware belongs to such products. From January 1, 2008, manufacturers of plastic packaging, containers, tools and other products for food can only engage in the production of food-related products after obtaining a QS production license; their products can only be used by food companies in production and operation, otherwise they will be investigated and dealt with according to law.

In theory, foam tableware after the ban is lifted should also be included in the scope of "plastic packaging, containers, and tools for food", so market access should also be implemented. In other words, there should be corresponding regulations from product raw materials to the entire process of each production link. However, in the nearly one year after the ban on foam tableware was lifted, China did not implement a production access system for foam tableware manufacturers. Some companies changed from the previous sneaky production to open production, and the source and quality of raw and auxiliary materials, production technology, environment and product quality of foam tableware companies have not been effectively regulated and supervised. It is not surprising that the quality and sanitation and safety of foam tableware are difficult to guarantee.

National standard

No specific requirements for foam tableware

After the ban was lifted, up to now, only the relevant national departments have issued a notice on foam tableware. It is this notice that points out the hygiene standards for foam tableware products.

On July 16, 2013, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, and the State Food and Drug Administration jointly issued the "Notice on Effectively Strengthening the Supervision and Management of Disposable Foam Plastic Tableware" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), which clearly stated that foam tableware can be legally used to hold food, and requires manufacturers to strictly follow the "Sanitary Standards for Polystyrene Molding Products for Food Packaging" (GB9689) and "Sanitary Standards for the Use of Additives in Food Containers and Packaging Materials" (GB9685) and other requirements for production and product factory inspection, and establish and preserve inspection records.

From the above notice, it can be found that after the ban was lifted, the law enforcement departments required the inspection of foam tableware based on these two standards. The reporter found that GB9689 was implemented in June 1989, while GB9685 was implemented in June 2009. That is, when the GB9685 standard was announced and implemented, China banned the production and sale of foam tableware.

The reporter noticed that the above two standards are respectively for polystyrene molded products and all food packaging additives, not specifically for foam tableware. Among them, GB9685 stipulates the requirements for various additives allowed for food containers and packaging materials, and there is no limitation on fluorescent brighteners, etc. In this regard, Dong Jinshi said: There is no mention of fluorescent brighteners, industrial talcum powder, recycled waste, etc., which means that these are not allowed to be used in production.

Hygiene

No food safety risks

At present, many catering companies on the market use foam tableware to serve hot oil-containing foods such as stir-frying. After the foam tableware comes into contact with hot oil food, the substances in the tableware will dissolve, which is very harmful to the human body.

"Whether a foam tableware's hygienic index is qualified or not, there should be an index requirement for n-hexane evaporation residue." Duan Yujing, director of the Quality Supervision Department of the International Food Packaging Association, explained to reporters that n-hexane evaporation residue is a substance that simulates the oily substances in food, such as peanut oil, soybean oil, etc., and dissolves from the lunch box after contact with the lunch box. The higher the evaporation residue value, the more substances are dissolved in the lunch box, and the greater the harm to the human body.

However, the reporter found that the hygienic standard (GB9689) did not involve the index requirements for n-hexane evaporation residue. "This leads to safety risks for foam tableware containing oily foods." Duan Yujing also said that in addition, the standard does not limit the physical and mechanical indicators of foam tableware, such as performance, load-bearing performance, drop performance, temperature resistance, water leakage, etc.

"Without these testing indicators, a large number of bad companies use recycled waste to produce tableware. According to the current national standard GB9689, the physical and chemical indicators are all qualified, which also leads to the strange phenomenon that the quality supervision department cannot punish." Duan Yujing said that in the final analysis, it is because China does not have a national standard specifically for foam tableware.

Because the existing GB9689 is only a general standard for all molded products made of polystyrene raw materials, such as knives, forks, cups, etc., although foam lunch boxes are also made of polystyrene raw materials, they do have their own unique characteristics, just like the same flour raw materials, processed into quick-frozen dumplings and noodles, the latter two have corresponding product standards, and foam tableware should also formulate a special national standard, so that there can be standards to rely on and supervision in accordance with the law.

Recycling

No policy has been issued from top to bottom

One of the important reasons why foam tableware was banned in those days was that it caused white pollution to the environment. After the National Development and Reform Commission issued "Order No. 21" last year, in the face of various doubts from the outside world, one of the reasons it gave for lifting the ban on foam tableware was that foam tableware can be recycled and reused; Europe, the United States, Japan and other countries and regions have been producing and using foam tableware. A year has passed, and what are the preparations for the construction of the recycling system and environmental protection proposed by the National Development and Reform Commission?

"According to our investigation, there are currently no specific policies from local governments to relevant government departments in various parts of China regarding the construction of the recycling system, and there is no place in China that recycles foam tableware." Hou Jianfeng, head of the Resources Department of the International Food Packaging Association, told reporters, "China's current garbage recycling system is not sound, especially when no one is willing to sort foam tableware, it takes a lot of manpower and financial resources to sort it out from the garbage. In addition, the recycling of foam tableware also faces a series of problems such as large size, high storage and transportation costs, high oil content and difficulty in cleaning, and serious secondary pollution."

According to him, although Japan uses foam tableware, it is mainly used to make noodle bowls and fresh food trays. Moreover, Japanese food contains less oil, and there are fewer leftovers. Most of the manufacturers are large law-abiding enterprises, and the recycling and processing system is also very advanced (no water washing, no secondary pollution), so there is basically no environmental pollution. The situation in China is very different from that in Japan.

"This means that the foam tableware that no one recycles can only be crushed and landfilled with domestic garbage." Hou Jianfeng said that foam tableware is difficult to degrade in a hundred years, and landfill treatment causes a large amount of foam tableware fragments to accumulate, which not only pollutes the soil but may also affect the quality of groundwater. Moreover, this material cannot be incinerated, otherwise it may produce carcinogens.

Label

Foam tableware is flammable but not marked

Last year, when a reporter secretly visited a foam tableware company, he happened to catch the foam tableware that was being processed suddenly catching fire. "This is because the material of foam tableware, polystyrene, is flammable." Dong Jinshi said that the preservation of foam tableware should consider fire prevention issues, and it should be clearly stated in the product packaging instructions.

"In addition, after the polystyrene tableware is foamed, its volume becomes larger and its density becomes lower, and its surface is easy to absorb grease. Therefore, the foamed tableware is not oil-resistant and is not suitable for holding greasy food." Dong Jinshi believes that disposable foamed plastic tableware cannot be heated in a microwave oven or in a steamer, and cannot be used to hold hot food such as stir-fried dishes and hot soup, especially spicy hot pot sold at roadside stalls.

Therefore, Dong Jinshi suggested that the precautions for use should be clearly stated on the packaging of the foamed tableware to guide consumption correctly and avoid harm caused by improper use.

However, the reporter recently found in a market survey that the disposable foamed tableware currently sold on the market has no labels on the packaging boxes, and some even have no manufacturer information, and no product has a product manual. The entire product, from the outer packaging box to the inner lining bag, and then to the lunch box itself, has almost no labels except for a few products with model information.

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