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The "plastic ban" was officially implemented on June 1, 2008. According to statistics from the Environmental Protection Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, China has reduced the use of plastic shopping bags by about 1.4 million tons in the past seven years, which is equivalent to saving 8.4 million tons of oil. What changes have various regions experienced since the implementation of the "plastic ban"?

"It not only saves money, but also protects the environment. Besides, I'm used to it." Wu Gang, a retired old man who has been shopping for groceries for a long time, said that after the "plastic ban", he began to get used to bringing his own shopping bags when shopping.

The "plastic ban" has been implemented for more than seven years. As Wu Gang said, changes are taking place in many places in China.

When shopping in large supermarkets, it has become a habit for customers to bring their own "equipment"

On February 16, the reporter came to a large foreign-funded supermarket in Luyuan District, Changchun City, Jilin Province. In the past, the tear-off bags that were placed everywhere in front of the fruit and vegetable stalls disappeared. When customers took the selected fruits and vegetables to the weighing area, the staff took out the bags to pack and weigh them.

"After a year, the sales volume of plastic bags in our supermarket has dropped to 1/3 of that before the "plastic ban". Many customers bring their own "equipment" to shop." said Zhang Xuefeng, deputy general manager of the supermarket.

Reporters learned that 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 the first province in China to implement a comprehensive "plastic ban". Since then, supermarkets like Zhang Xuefeng's, whether they are free tear-off bags provided by supermarkets or handbags paid by customers, are all polylactic acid fully degradable food bags, and they come from degradable plastic bag manufacturers that have reported information in Jilin Province. Lu Ye, a member of the Jilin Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said, "I accidentally found that the plastic plates and forks in the fast food restaurants around me are already degradable."

At present, "Jilin Province has initially formed the main channel of market supply, and first-tier large chain supermarkets have established a stable supply relationship with production enterprises." Song Gang, deputy director of the Jilin Provincial Development and Reform Commission, introduced that the replacement rate of non-degradable plastic products in large shopping malls across the province has reached 90%.

However, after visiting a large farmer's market and Guangfu Road Small Commodity Wholesale Market in Changchun City, the reporter found that from the plastic bags carried by customers to the plastic bags placed on the stalls, there are all kinds of them, but it is difficult to see standard degradable plastic bags. "Every day, there are vendors riding "reverse donkeys" to deliver goods on the street. A bag of 80 plastic bags costs only 4 yuan." An old lady selling frozen pears on the street said that the plastic bags did not meet the standards.

Obviously, the implementation of the "plastic restriction order" is very different in farmers' markets and large shopping malls, and the reporter also found this situation in Yunnan.

On February 15, the reporter found in a vegetable market in Kunming that vendors were still accustomed to simple packaging with plastic bags. Supermarket plastic bags have degradable signs, while the plastic bags in the vegetable market are thinner and lighter, and there is no mark on whether they are degradable. In this regard, most vendors said they were not clear. "The bag is small, it's nothing to use!" A vendor said disdainfully.

"Black workshops" produce a lot, and grassroots supervision and law enforcement are difficult

"During the inspection, it was found that there are almost no degradable plastic shopping bags in the farmers' market. Most of them are disposable non-degradable plastic bags, and there are some colorful secondary recycled non-degradable shopping bags." Last August, a joint inspection team of multiple departments in Jilin Province went to Baicheng City, Songyuan City and Yanbian Prefecture to conduct surprise inspections on the implementation of the "plastic ban" and wrote in the report.

Liu Dawei, deputy director of the Industry Coordination Department of the Jilin Provincial Development and Reform Commission, was deeply touched. "During the inspection, the merchants took out degradable plastic bags that met the standards, but turned around and used the original bags again."

It is reported that in order to reduce "white pollution", plastic packaging bag manufacturers must obtain approval from the environmental protection department and use degradable raw materials.

In this regard, a responsible comrade of a grassroots environmental protection department in Yunnan Province told reporters that after the implementation of the "Plastic Restriction Order", the grassroots environmental protection bureau has not received any relevant applications. In fact, many "black workshops" that have not been approved are still producing secretly. "Some use the power distribution room as a cover, and some use the production packaging boxes to mix the real ones, and secretly produce behind their partitions, which is very hidden."

According to the relevant responsible comrades of a grassroots market supervision bureau in Yunnan Province, for the illegal use of plastic bags in vegetable markets, most of the time, only publicity and education can be carried out, and illegal plastic bags can be confiscated. It is very difficult to catch "black workshops". In addition, in the early days of the promulgation of the "Plastic Restriction Order", the industrial and commercial, quality inspection and other departments had taken special measures to promote this work, but as the work has become normalized in recent years, the intensity has also weakened.

The grassroots market supervision and management bureau also has difficulties in the law enforcement process. "Except for a few plastic bags that can be seen as illegal with the naked eye, it is difficult for many grassroots law enforcement officers of plastic bags to distinguish whether they are qualified or not." The responsible comrade said.

Experts suggest strict control of the source

Faced with the difficulties of "plastic restriction" that still exist, how to better control it?

Wu Ming, deputy director of the Institute of Theoretical Economics, Development Research Institute of Yunnan University, believes that there are many reasons why substandard plastic bags are still rampant. "Plastic products meet people's pursuit of convenient and fast living habits, and alternatives have not kept up. There is insufficient understanding of the consequences of environmental pollution. In addition, the relevant departments do not take action, investigate and punish laxly, lack of law enforcement, and insufficient public opinion guidance, which will lead to the proliferation of plastic products."

"The key is to control it from the source." Liu Dawei introduced, "Take Jilin Province as an example. The main source of non-degradable plastic bags is from other places, and a large number of products still enter Jilin every day. Due to the lack of relevant laws and regulations, blocking the influx of non-degradable products is a major problem."

Lu Ye believes that Jilin has become China's first province to comprehensively "ban plastic", but the overall environment has not provided convenience for Jilin Province's "ban plastic", but has made Jilin Province face multiple tests. For example, "When it comes to environmental protection, the masses recognize it in their minds, but they discount it in action. It has become a habit for farmers' markets to provide plastic bags for free, and customers are used to this convenience."

In this regard, Duan Changqun, dean of the School of Ecology and Environment at Yunnan University, pointed out that plastic products are a rigid demand and it is basically impossible to eliminate them in a short period of time. "It can only be suppressed through reduction, recycling, public opinion guidance, government technical support and policy guidance."

But in Liu Dawei's view, every bit of achievement is inspiring. "We started in a "cannibalization" way, occupying all large supermarkets and gradually attacking small and medium-sized markets." It is reported that Jilin Province's "plastic ban" regulations will add a recall system and fines, implement a product catalog system for plastic bans, strengthen penalties for illegal acts, and at the same time, strengthen the responsibilities of multiple collaborative departments such as environmental protection departments, food and drug safety supervision and management departments, and commerce departments.

"This is a gradual process. At first, we changed to degradable handbags from supermarkets, and inadvertently found that hand-torn bags are also degradable. If there is change, there will be results." Lu Ye said.

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