China's plastic bag ban
On June 1, China enacted its long-expected plastic bag ban. The law actually bans only the use of ultrathin bags — those less than 0.025 millimeter thick — but it requires stores to charge consumers for other disposable plastic carrier bags, with a hygiene-related exception for bags used with fresh and cooked foods. Plastics News Asia bureau chief Steve Toloken and photographer Jennifer Tomlinson look at how the ban is being implemented in Guangzhou, China, where they are based.
A green sign tells shoppers about the policy and how much bags will cost. The law seems to have spurred big changes at major retailers and convenience stores, where shelves are stocked with reusable bags, stores are plastered with signs announcing the changes and consumers are urged to protect the environment and use fewer plastic bags.
A huge, bag-shaped sign at a Park N Shop supermarket describes the changes. China says the law is needed to conserve resources and reduce litter — “white pollution” — in a country that uses an estimated 3 billion bags a day. The law includes some strict language telling stores they must charge consumers at least the cost of the bag. Fines for giving out free bags start at 5,000 yuan, or $727.
Xie Yu Jiao carries a reusable bag she just purchased for 3.9 yuan (56 cents) at a Guangzhou supermarket. She said she strongly supports the policy and is very willing to buy reusable bags, because plastic bags cause a lot of damage to the environment. People will need time to adapt to the changes, though, and the government needs to promote the policy more, she said.
Zhang Xuan said seeing bags and other litter along the railroad tracks on a recent train trip left a strong impression on her, so she supports the new policy. She said plastic bags are handy, and the policy initially has been inconvenient, but she also said plastic bags cause a lot of pollution. On this trip, she said, she forgot her reusable bag at home because she was not planning to shop.
A woman examines the reusable bags for sale at a local grocery store. Annual demand for polymers used in bags in China is expected to drop 30 percent in the near future, from 1.6 million metric tons (3.53 billion pounds) to 1.1 million tonnes (2.43 billion pounds), profits will fall and some small and medium-sized bag manufacturers will go out of business, according to the Beijing office of the International Association of Chemical Manufacturers Ltd.
School kids gather for lunch at a 7-11 convenience store, and bags and trash accumulate outside. While Chinese industry officials say they are in favor of using fewer bags, they contend the root problem is a lack of recycling policies, rather than bag use itself. Also, because people often reuse carrier bags for trash, other countries that have restricted bags at retailers have seen a corresponding jump in sales of garbage bags — resulting in no real change in plastic consumption, according to the China Plastics Processing Industry Association.
Groceries are packed at a Guangzhou market, over another “No plastic bag” banner. China has some daunting pollution problems — a World Bank study, for example, said it has 16 of the 20 most-polluted cities in the world. While cleaning up plastic bags may not address the most serious of those challenges, judging by recent days in Guangzhou, at least, the country hopes this new campaign against “white pollution” will start to mold public opinion.
