Recently, the official website of the National Development and Reform Commission opened a column of "I offer suggestions for the prevention and control of plastic waste". From January 5, 2018 to January 31, 2018, people from all walks of life were invited to put forward opinions and suggestions on the management requirements of plastic products in different fields.

This column was opened in the National Development and Reform Commission official website home page "interaction between the government and the people" section of the suggestions column.

Thepapernews noted that the scope of soliciting opinions includes: first, suggestions on consumption scenarios, working processes and product categories with restrictions or bans on the use of plastic products; Second, suggestions for the promotion and application of alternative products with mature alternatives (such as cloth bags, paper-based packaging, degradable materials, etc.); (3) Recommendations for situations where the use of plastic products needs to be regulated and managed without prohibition or replacement conditions; (4) Other opinions and suggestions on the prevention and control of plastic waste pollution.

The Department of Environmental Information of the National Development and Reform Commission explained the background of the collection of opinions. It said that it is studying and formulating policy documents on the prevention and control of plastic waste pollution, in accordance with the principle of "limiting a batch, replacing a batch, regulating a batch", and putting forward policy measures for plastic products used in different production, life, consumption and other situations by field and category.

The Department of Environmental Information of the National Development and Reform Commission hopes to gather wisdom from all walks of life in this column and improve the scientific, targeted and operable nature of policy formulation.

In fact, the improvement of the "plastic limit" system is a top priority. It has been ten years since the "plastic limit" was issued in December 2007, and discussions about the policy's weakening effect have frequently appeared in the news. The new problems brought by emerging industries such as express delivery and takeout have also put forward new requirements for the "plastic limit".

Statistics show that the express delivery industry alone used 14.7 billion plastic bags last year, People's Daily reported in December 2017. In addition, old problems such as the indiscriminate circulation of ultra-thin plastic bags have not been effectively solved, which inevitably makes people feel that the "plastic limit" is weakening.

The National Development and Reform Commission Department of environmental information also admitted that for a long time, different forms of disposable plastic products are widely used in residents' lives, in recent years with the development of new formats such as e-commerce, express delivery, takeout, plastic lunch boxes, plastic packaging and other consumption has risen rapidly, resulting in new resources and environmental pressure. Plastic waste is discarded at will cause "white pollution", there is an environmental risk of non-standardized treatment of plastic waste.

Thepaper.cn noted that the adjustment plan around the "plastic limit" related policies was put forward in November 2017. On November 2, 2017, He Lifong, director of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that relevant policies will be adjusted in a timely manner, ready to work with relevant departments to study and adjust the scope of implementation of the "plastic limit order", study and formulate relevant implementation plans to take the lead in limiting the use of a series of non-degradable plastic packaging in e-commerce, express delivery, takeout and other industries, and urge local governments, especially cities, to increase implementation efforts.

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