To the new edition of plastic restriction order: "plastic restriction" should not go towards "plastic replacement".

01 the new plastic restriction order has indeed been upgraded

Since June 1, 2008, China has implemented the Circular of the General Office of the State Council on restricting the production and sale of plastic shopping bags, which is a well-known plastic restriction order.

At that time, online shopping was not yet developed, and the main spearhead of the plastic restriction was aimed at supermarkets, shopping malls, bazaars and other retail places. Nowadays, with the rise of new industries such as express delivery and takeout, online platform has become a heavy use field of disposable plastic products. In other words, today, express delivery and takeout are almost part of people's way of life.

In addition, the plastic restriction order is intended to influence the public's consumption habits through price leverage (that is, paid use). However, 12 years of practice shows that the focus of plastic restriction is on the consumer side, rather than deployment based on the full cycle of production, consumption and disposal of plastic products. The plastic restriction order was eventually dispelled as a "plastic purchase order", which is rooted in this.

Comparatively speaking, the new plastic restriction order not only draws lessons from the implementation of the old plastic restriction order, but also responds to the new situation, new problems and new directions in recent years:

It has formulated a specific timetable and roadmap for the national control of plastic pollution in the coming period of time; in addition to plastic shopping bags, disposable plastic tableware, express plastic packaging and other plastic products have also been managed; the development and application of alternative products (mainly biodegradable products), many media described this move as a "combination of dredging and plugging"....

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The key contents of "opinions on further strengthening the Control of plastic pollution" are illustrated.

What is remarkable is that the ban on disposable foamed plastic tableware, which has been controversial for a long time, has finally ushered in again (Note: the former State Economic and Trade Commission issued an Emergency notice on immediately stopping the production of disposable foamed plastic tableware in 2001, but in 2013, disposable foamed plastic tableware was lifted). This is obviously a kind of rectification, and the road is not bumpy.

02 be careful to "limit plastic" and fall into the quagmire of "replacing plastic"

After more than half a century of development, the cheap and easy-to-use properties of plastics have been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. In this context, the new plastic restriction order adopts the idea of "banning one batch, replacing recycling one batch, standardizing one batch", and puts forward corresponding management requirements and policy measures for different types of plastic products. There is indeed a practical need to find suitable alternatives and solutions.

Among them, biodegradable plastics are "liked" by governments at all levels, and vigorously promoted in the local and even the whole country. However, just as the old plastic restriction order has changed from "plastic restriction" to "plastic sale", we should also guard against it. The new plastic restriction order has fallen from "plastic restriction" to "replacement plastic".

Because biodegradable materials have certain biodegradability under specific environmental conditions, if they can be properly recycled after use, they can limited replace some plastic products and contribute to plastic restriction. However, if we blindly "replace plastic" and blindly extend biodegradable plastics, it may add new pressure to the current overburdened plastic pollution control system.

Express plastic bags that can be degraded in the soil are advertised on the market.

However, the actual degradation effect is not as advertised.

Can the current municipal collection and disposal facilities meet the needs of recycling and disposal of biodegradable plastics? this is a key question that needs to be answered before the implementation of biodegradable plastics.

In addition, the effect of plastic restriction always has a lot to do with the renewal of people's ideas. The use of disposable plastics produces a lot of waste. Biodegradable plastics do not change their disposable nature, and unrestricted promotion will not help to restrain the current culture of disposable use. For this reason, the new round of plastic restrictions implemented in 2020 should not be extensively developed to replace traditional disposable plastics with biodegradable plastics.

In the future plastic restriction, we expect to see more attention to "reuse" and guide people to abandon the one-off behavior culture that is too dependent on consuming a lot of resources.

03 new version of plastic restriction order still needs supporting laws and regulations

There is no doubt that the implementation of the new plastic restrictions is expected to gain more than the old ones. However, it should be pointed out that the so-called new plastic restriction order is only an administrative notice, and its implementation is inseparable from the cooperation of subsequent relevant laws and regulations. In particular, the follow-up laws and regulations should specify the corresponding disciplinary measures to ensure the implementation effect of the new plastic restriction order.

Therefore, some scholars have pointed out that the key to whether the "plastic treatment" effect of the new plastic restriction order can be brought into full play lies in whether it can rise to a "decree".

We hope that in the future, at the local level, the relevant content of plastic restrictions will be incorporated into local laws and regulations to ensure that the requirements of the new plastic restrictions will be implemented. We hope that plastic issues can be more written into the relevant laws in the short term in the future, so as to promote the "upgrading" of plastic pollution prevention and control with the authority and compulsion of the law.

At present, the main laws related to the treatment of plastics in China are: the Law of the people's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Environmental pollution by solid waste (promulgated in 1995) and the Law of the people's Republic of China on the Promotion of Circular economy (promulgated in 2008). Try to analyze the provisions related to plastic treatment in the above law, it is not difficult to see the characteristics: most of the contents are statements of principle, so it is difficult to guide the actual implementation process.

For example, the Law of the people's Republic of China on the Promotion of Circular economy puts forward the principle of "reduction, reuse and resource utilization", but there are few substantive measures to control plastic waste.

Therefore, we hope that on the basis of the existing laws and regulations, we can formulate more clear implementation rules: a clear division of responsibilities of various government departments, and there are clear and clear corresponding responsibility departments in all aspects of plastic production, use, recycling and disposal, to avoid the confusion of responsibilities that lead to the failure of various departments to perform their duties effectively. Make clear the detailed rules of punishment for illegal enterprises and individuals, and clearly stipulate illegal acts and corresponding punishment measures in the legislation.

As a current policy that systematically and comprehensively reflects the direction of plastic pollution control in China, it is expected that the new plastic restriction order will give full play to the role of solving plastic pollution and urge relevant enterprises, departments and people from all walks of life to participate in the action. usher in a future free of plastic pollution.