Xinhua News Agency, Nanchang, February 28Title: Seven-year "Plastic Ban" implementation has contrast, and the whole people need to do both to protect the environment

Xinhua News Agency reporters Wu Huiying and Zhou Chang

Seven years of "Plastic Ban", ice and fire: When supermarkets and shopping malls gradually reduce the use of plastic bags, a large number of non-compliant plastic bags in farmers' markets are still "plastic", which is worrying.

The achievements are quite outstanding, and the problems also surface. In the face of the contrast, should we blame the society's lack of environmental awareness, or the "plastic ban" in the implementation of the discount?

Plastic Ban: Pressing down the gourd, but not letting go of the ladle

On June 1, 2008, the "Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Restricting the Production, Sale and Use of Plastic Shopping Bags" was officially implemented. More than 7 years have passed, how is the "Plastic Ban" implemented?

¡°Nowadays, many consumers, especially the elderly, bring their own plastic bags or environmentally friendly shopping bags.¡± The person in charge of Tianhong Supermarket in Honggutan New District, Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province said that the supermarket has more than 10,000 transactions a day, of which less than one-third are for the purchase of plastic bags. ¡°After more than seven years of promotion, people¡¯s environmental awareness is indeed gradually improving.¡±

In a large chain supermarket in the Economic Development Zone of Hefei City, Anhui Province, the reporter randomly interviewed 10 citizens who were shopping in the supermarket. Only 2 said they did not understand the "plastic ban". Among the remaining 8 citizens who had heard of the "plastic ban", 3 brought their own plastic bags, cloth bags or trolley canvas bags, and 2 of them were over 60 years old.

The data released by the Environmental Protection Department of the National Development and Reform Commission recently showed that since the "Plastic Ban" was officially implemented on June 1, 2008, it has achieved obvious results in the past seven years. The use of plastic shopping bags in supermarkets and shopping malls has generally decreased by more than 2/3, and the cumulative reduction of plastic shopping bags is about 1.4 million tons, which is equivalent to saving 8.4 million tons of oil, saving more than 12 million tons of standard coal, and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 30 million tons.

However, the reporter observed that while the "Plastic Ban" was relatively well implemented in supermarkets and shopping malls across the country, it did not stop the ultra-thin plastic bags from floating around.

In the Weidong Garden Farmers' Market in Honggutan New District, Nanchang City, almost all operators are providing ultra-thin plastic bags of various colors for free. There are no signs of manufacturers and production specifications on these plastic bags. Compared with the plastic bags used in supermarkets, this kind of bag is much thinner and it is difficult to meet the requirement of "not less than 0.025 mm" in the "Plastic Ban".

On the morning of the 25th, Wu Yunmei, a Hefei resident, went to a vegetable market in Baohe District, Hefei, and bought some vegetables and meat. She used a total of 7 plastic bags, of which 750 grams of pork was covered in 3 bags. She said: "The bag is too thin, and the meat is wet, so I asked the merchant to put in a few more bags. Anyway, it's free."

Penalties and substitutions: both are big problems

In order to cooperate with the implementation of the "Plastic Restriction Order", the Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce jointly issued the "Management Measures for the Paid Use of Plastic Shopping Bags in Commodity Retail Places" in 2008, which have certain punishment measures for behaviors such as providing plastic bags to consumers free of charge or in disguised form. However, the reporter learned from the interview that the actual effect is not satisfactory.

"In the first few years after the "plastic restriction order" was issued, the managers of the farmers' markets did go to various stores to check and tell us not to use ultra-thin plastic bags." Mr. Zou, the owner of a grocery store in Weidong Garden Farmers' Market in Nanchang, said, "But in the past few years, no one has checked and no penalties have been imposed, so they have continued to use them naturally."

The staff of the farmers' market said: "The merchants in the farmers' market are often small businesses. If they are found to be using ultra-thin plastic bags in violation of regulations, we can only educate them or confiscate the illegal plastic bags."

The Nanchang Municipal Market and Quality Supervision Administration said that staff often organize actions to conduct dragnet inspections on plastic bag manufacturers and impose penalties on manufacturers that violate regulations to produce ultra-thin plastic bags, but some "black workshops" that violate regulations to produce ultra-thin plastic bags without registration are very hidden, which brings great difficulties to source supervision.

So, if the paid use of ordinary plastic bags and the prohibition of ultra-thin plastic bags are fully implemented, are there convenient, cheap and environmentally friendly alternatives?

Zhang Zongxian, business manager of a company producing environmentally friendly bags in Nanchang, said that the factory can produce 30,000 environmentally friendly bags a day, but they are basically sold to real estate and other businesses, and given to consumers for free when the businesses hold activities and promotions. "Very few environmentally friendly bags are sold directly to supermarkets. Supermarkets almost all still use plastic bags. Our sales in supermarkets only account for 5% of the company's total sales."

Zhang Zongxian said that the price of environmentally friendly bags is relatively high, and the ex-factory price of a single environmentally friendly bag is between 1 yuan and 2 yuan. "After we sell it to supermarkets, the supermarkets will double the price. How can consumers be willing to buy it?"

The era of environmental protection for all: It depends on taking one step at a time

From January 1, 2015, Jilin Province began to ban the production, sale and provision of disposable non-degradable plastic shopping bags and plastic tableware, becoming China's first province to fully "ban plastic". At present, large supermarkets and shopping malls in Changchun have basically completed the replacement of traditional plastic bags with environmentally friendly plastic bags.

Ma Xuesong, a researcher at the Jiangxi Academy of Social Sciences, suggested that while implementing the "plastic restriction order", local governments should vigorously encourage the development of the degradable plastic industry and provide appropriate financial subsidies to relevant companies to accelerate the marketization process of alternative products.

"Due to regulatory costs and other reasons, it is difficult for the government to use administrative or legal means to restrict citizens from using plastic bags, etc." Professor Li Decai of the Management Department of Hefei University said that it is also necessary to start with the formation of environmental protection concepts among citizens and use a variety of methods to strengthen public opinion guidance so that people can "limit plastic" in their minds and then actively participate in "plastic restriction".

In fact, the situation of the "plastic restriction order" is not an isolated case. The same notice requiring hotels to cancel the "six small items" including disposable toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, bath gel, slippers, and combs for environmental protection. After trying to cancel the free supply of the six small items for a period of time, many hotels chose to put the "six small items" back in the room. How to effectively promote environmental protection measures has become a common concern of many people at present.

Huang Liling, a lawyer at Beijing Zhongmian Law Firm, believes that the introduction of similar regulations such as the "Plastic Ban" is itself a kind of progress. From the perspective of effect, it is not in vain. The key to achieving results lies in whether there is a situation where the law is not followed or the law is not strictly enforced. "Regulations without details are like a tiger without teeth. They look powerful, but in fact they are not very effective." Huang Liling said.

Experts also suggested that the focus of supervision should be placed on the source of production. Products that do not meet environmental standards should not be allowed to enter the market, and illegal companies should not be left with room to survive, so as to control the generation of "white pollution" from the source. At the same time, guide consumers to form good consumption habits, make the concept of environmental protection more popular, and promote the arrival of the era of environmental protection for all people as soon as possible.

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