The new round of "plastic restriction order" has been implemented for more than a month. What is the effect? Reporters recently investigated in many places in China and found that under the strict order, supermarkets, hotels, catering companies and service platforms with a certain scale have implemented "plastic reduction" well. However, scattered merchants throughout the communities and streets are generally "unmoved", and farmers' markets are still the "hardest hit areas" where traditional disposable plastic products are rampant. There are even ordinary plastic products "mixed with pearls" pretending to be degradable products to disrupt the market.

Large-scale enterprises actively participate

Environmentally friendly alternative products emerge

After the new round of "plastic restriction order" was issued, many places have introduced corresponding policies to encourage enterprises to reduce the use of plastic products and promote degradable plastic products.

The "Implementation Plan for Further Strengthening Plastic Pollution Control" issued by Guizhou Province in August 2020 proposed that by the end of 2020, shopping malls, supermarkets, pharmacies, bookstores and other places in the built-up areas of Guiyang City, as well as catering take-out services and various exhibitions and activities, will prohibit the use of non-degradable plastic bags, and the use of non-degradable plastic bags will be regulated and restricted in the collective markets. The catering industry throughout the province is prohibited from using non-degradable disposable plastic straws; catering dine-in services in built-up areas of cities at or above the prefecture level and scenic spots are prohibited from using non-degradable disposable plastic tableware.

Zhejiang Province proposed that the use of non-degradable plastic bags will be prohibited in supermarkets and retail places, catering take-out services and various exhibitions and activities in the built-up areas of Hangzhou, Ningbo and Shaoxing; by the end of 2022, the implementation scope will be expanded to built-up areas above county towns in the province.

According to the plastic pollution control goals achieved in Shanghai in stages, at this stage, Shanghai¡¯s restaurants are prohibited from using non-degradable disposable plastic tableware; take-out services are prohibited from using non-degradable plastic shopping bags; shopping malls, supermarkets, pharmacies, bookstores and other places, as well as various exhibitions and activities, are prohibited from using disposable plastic shopping bags; the catering industry is prohibited from using non-degradable disposable plastic straws; hotel operators are not allowed to proactively provide consumers with disposable daily necessities in guest rooms.

The reporter visited catering, retail, supermarkets and other service companies and found that companies with a certain scale of operation actively implemented the "plastic restriction" requirements and launched degradable plastic products, cloth products, paper products, wood products and other products to replace ordinary disposable plastic products.

Some companies actively remind and guide consumers to reduce the use of disposable plastic products. Guo Yue, assistant to the president of Shanghai Nonggongshang Supermarket (Group) Co., Ltd., said that the company had released relevant publicity information through WeChat public accounts and store posters at the end of last year, and prepared new non-woven shopping bags in thousands of stores in Shanghai; an employee of a star-rated hotel in Changsha told reporters that before the new "plastic restriction order" was officially implemented in Changsha, the hotel had already promoted the national plastic restriction and ban policy to consumers; a relevant person in charge of Meituan said that in order to reduce the pressure on the urban environment caused by disposable plastic tableware and packaging bags, Meituan encouraged consumers to choose "no tableware" when ordering takeout meals through public welfare activities.

Degradable plastic substitutes are emerging. The reporter saw at a Walmart supermarket in Yunyan District, Guiyang City that traditional plastic bags have been replaced with degradable plastic bags for consumers to use for a fee. The new plastic bags are printed with the manufacturer, product specifications, quality standards, and words such as "compostable" and "recycling or composting recommended after discarding"; at the Ginza Mall Jinan Qilishan store, when asking consumers if they need plastic bags, the cashier also reminded consumers that "all shopping bags have been replaced with degradable ones, and the price has also increased."

In large supermarkets such as BBK in Changsha, biodegradable bags have replaced ordinary plastic bags and are sold to consumers. The prices of small, medium and large sizes are 0.6 yuan, 1 yuan and 1.5 yuan respectively, which is much higher than the original plastic bag price. Most consumers approve of this change, and many people say that "it can encourage everyone to choose reusable shopping bags."

Recyclable and degradable environmentally friendly alternative products are promoted. At Xinhualian Supermarket in Huaiyin District, Jinan, the reporter saw that staff at the entrance of the supermarket were selling canvas shopping bags to consumers; at a "net celebrity" chain coffee shop in Shanghai, the disposable plastic tableware that was originally provided for dine-in desserts has now been replaced with wooden cutlery; Shanghai Lianhua Supermarket Co., Ltd. stated that supermarkets no longer sell disposable plastic shopping bags, and alternative products such as non-woven shopping bags, degradable tableware, and degradable straws have been introduced.

The well-known catering brand Pizza Hut launched a plastic reduction initiative at the end of 2020, stopping the use of plastic straws in all restaurants in mainland China, and replacing packaging in 36 key cities with paper bags or biodegradable plastic bags, planning to save 90 million plastic bags and 70 million plastic straws each year.

The situation in farmers' markets is worrying

Scattered merchants "stand still"

The reporter found that since the relevant departments did not explicitly require the complete cessation of disposable non-degradable plastic products, farmers' markets and scattered merchants are still using a large number of disposable ordinary plastic bags; even if some provinces have included farmers' markets and other places in the scope of "plastic restriction", the effect is not good, resulting in limited actual effectiveness of the "plastic restriction order".

In the store of "Xue Ji Chaohuo", a well-known dried fruit specialty brand in Jinan, the reporter saw that in addition to the packaging bags used to pack dried fruits, the cashier would also give a thick plastic handbag about 40 cm high when paying. Although this handbag can be reused, the store will give it repeatedly every time the reporter goes shopping, and the cashier has never made any suggestions on this; neither of the two plastic bags indicates the type of plastic used, and the clerk also "does not know anything about it".

The reporter then called the service phone number of "Xue Ji Chaohuo". The customer service staff told reporters that the plastic bags currently used in various stores are made of non-degradable plastic. The company has understood the requirements of the "plastic ban", but has not yet stopped supplying non-degradable plastics. It will "replace as soon as possible", and the specific implementation time is unclear.

As a major consumer of disposable plastic bags, the problem of farmers' markets is particularly prominent. In some farmers' markets in Hunan, reporters found that ordinary plastic bags are still widely used. Many merchants said they had heard of the "plastic ban", but believed that "it has not been truly implemented" and are still waiting and watching. Some merchants expressed concern: "Buying a handful of small vegetables is only a few yuan, if a plastic bag costs nearly one yuan, consumers may find it difficult to accept."

Guizhou Province clearly requires markets to regulate and restrict the use of non-degradable plastic bags. In the Yingjia Farmers' Market in Yunyan District, Guiyang City, the reporter searched through several plastic product stores throughout the farmers' market. The relevant sales staff all said that the use of degradable plastic bags has not yet been promoted, and all merchants in the entire farmers' market are using non-degradable plastic bags.

In a plastic product store in this market, various plastic bags, plastic lunch boxes, disposable plastic cups and other products of different sizes and colors are on sale. When the reporter asked whether there were any degradable plastic bags for sale, the salesperson said no. "At present, we sell traditional plastic bags, some of which are 0.025 mm thick and some are less than this thickness, but we have never sold degradable plastic bags."

It is worth noting that among the disposable plastic bags provided free of charge in farmers' markets, "three-no products" are still the majority. In the Liaocheng Road Convenience Market in Jinan City, the disposable shopping bags provided to consumers by stalls are red, green, white and black. The reporter saw in this market that these free plastic bags are basically "three-no products" made of non-degradable materials, and ultra-thin plastic bags account for a large proportion.

In addition, some consumers reported to reporters that some regions currently have clear "plastic restrictions" on disposable plastic shopping bags, tableware, straws, toiletries, tapes, etc., but there is a certain degree of disconnection.

For example, some milk tea shops have replaced paper straws, but the cups and lids are still regular plastic products, and they are all disposable; shopping bags are required to be degradable, but there is no requirement for the packaging that comes with the goods.

A staff member of the market supervision department told reporters that it is difficult to supervise the use of disposable plastic products. If a carpet-style investigation is to be carried out, it will be a test for the manpower and material resources at the grassroots level. At present, it is mainly through large merchants driving small merchants and the source driving the downstream, step by step to solve the problem.

Popularization and promotion still need to be strengthened

Usage habits need to be reversed

The reporter found in the investigation that the current terminal consumer merchants and consumers are not aware of the new "plastic restriction order", and the usage habits of merchants and consumers also need to be reversed. It is worth noting that a few ordinary plastic products "take advantage of the concept" and pretend to be degradable products and sell at high prices.

First, the new "plastic restriction order" is not widely popularized and the awareness is not high. In cities such as Jinan, most of the large-scale enterprises visited by reporters said that they had "received the notice" or "knew that there were new requirements", while most of the scattered merchants were unaware of the new "plastic restriction order" and said that they had not received any notice; at the consumer level, it was more through the publicity of merchants that they learned about and cooperated with the new plastic restriction policy.

In a convenience supermarket on Tai'an Road in Jinan, the cashier told reporters that he had not received any notice from the management department and could not tell the difference from disposable plastic bags; a salesperson at a plastic products store in Yingjia Farmers' Market in Yunyan District, Guiyang said that the relevant departments did not promote degradable plastic bags on site, and did not know the purchase channels for degradable plastic bags. If the reporter had not asked, he would not have known that plastic bags could be degraded.

Wang Can, a citizen of Guiyang, said that in August last year, Guizhou Province issued an upgraded version of the "plastic restriction order", requiring the gradual cancellation of the production and use of traditional plastic products, but in Guiyang, the relevant promotion and supervision were not in place. He and his family have never seen any related publicity activities, and major farmers' markets are also dominated by traditional plastic bags. The popularity of the "plastic restriction order" among the masses is not high.

"At present, it seems that relatively few people know about the "plastic ban" and the acceptance level is low." An environmental expert in Guizhou believes that although plastic products are provided by merchants and consumers are in a passive position, the supervisory role of consumers cannot be ignored. Relevant departments also need to strengthen the social publicity of the "plastic ban", expand the awareness rate, and strive for the support, response and supervision of the masses.

Second, consumption habits still need to be reversed, and alternative products are not cost-effective. The reporter's investigation found that ordinary plastic products are still widely used, and the usage habits of merchants and consumers still need to be reversed. A seafood distributor asked the reporter: "If aquatic products are not packed in plastic bags, what else can be used? And the fishy smell of bags that have been used to pack fish is difficult to wash off. Can cloth bags work?" Some consumers reported that some paper straws have a smell of toilet paper cores, and as the soaking time in beverages increases, not only do the straws become softer, but the "paper smell" becomes heavier, which is unacceptable.

"Our company started the research and development of polylactic acid degradable straws as early as around 2005. During this period, we experienced many difficulties such as finding raw materials and improving performance. The products that were finally launched have been "cold" in the market for the first few years." Lou Zhongping, chairman of Yiwu Shuangtong Daily Necessities Co., Ltd., a leading company in the global straw industry, said that the main reason is that the cost-effectiveness of alternative products is still low. The cost of a plastic straw is 0.01 yuan, a paper straw is 0.03 yuan, and the cost of a degradable plastic straw is as high as 0.05 yuan.

In addition, the randomness of young people's consumption has also created obstacles for "plastic reduction". According to Chen Cheng and other Jinan citizens, the elderly like to bring shopping bags to supermarkets and markets because most of them have clear shopping lists; while the purpose of consumption of young consumer groups is not obvious, and they often make a sudden decision, so it is unlikely that they will go out with shopping bags.

Third, a few ordinary plastic products are sold at high prices by "taking advantage of the concept". Reporters found that some ordinary disposable plastic products are "disguised" as degradable products and sold at high prices. At a wholesale company in a central province, the reporter saw a plastic bag that felt the same as an ordinary plastic bag. The lower left corner was also marked with small characters that the ingredients were ordinary plastics, but the front of the bag was printed with large characters "Fully biodegradable shopping bags", "Anaerobic degradation technology for PE plastic bags", "The best technical route for managing plastic white pollution" and other slogans that contradicted the labeled materials. The price of these plastic bags is twice that of ordinary plastic bags, but they are 50% lower than the price of truly biodegradable shopping bags.

"This is a typical case of "selling dog meat under the guise of sheep meat". Those who know the business can tell at a glance that the ingredients are ordinary plastic bags, but the degradation slogan is used to confuse people. In fact, it does not meet the degradation standards at all." said Shen Youliang, secretary general of the Hunan Circular Economy Research Association.

(Reporters Chen Hao, Xie Ying, Wang Meiling, Jiang Cheng, Wei Yajun)

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