From January 1, 2021, the use of degradable plastic shopping bags, including disposable plastic cotton swabs, disposable foamed plastic tableware, and non-degradable disposable plastic straws, will be banned in certain cities.
It should be noted that before the end of August 2020, various localities will launch special law enforcement inspections on the promotion of plastic bans and restrictions in catering and other fields.
From "plastic restriction" to "plastic ban", all members of society are required to participate, which also means that it is difficult for "plastic ban" to finish its work. What are the main difficulties?
From the perspective of consumers, living habits and living costs are the key to influence
With the increasing awareness of environmental protection in recent years, many people have ideologically accepted not to use non-degradable plastic bags. At this stage, reducing the use of plastic products will increase some trouble for ordinary people. This is mostly due to lifestyle habits. In addition, the cost of living, such as switching to recyclable paper packaging, will increase consumer spending.
From the perspective of catering and other operators, cost is the key consideration
According to a catering operator, the wholesale price of foamed plastic lunch boxes is about 0.09 yuan each, disposable paper pulp environmentally friendly degradable lunch boxes, each with a standard square size is about 1.5 yuan; disposable wheat straw pulp lunch boxes The price for the small four-frame specification is about 2.5 yuan. Chinese food with soup has a higher demand for the usability of environmentally friendly lunch boxes, which will also lead to higher costs for environmentally friendly lunch boxes.
How to break through?
From the current point of view, it is necessary to upgrade the "plastic restriction order" to the "plastic ban order". In response to the above-mentioned problems, my country's implementation of the "ban on plastics" not only restricts the use of plastics in stages and steps at the policy formulation level, but also works in the upstream of the industry and downstream of the public's habits.
In terms of policies, compared with the 2008 "plastic restriction order", it is mainly aimed at the circulation and use links, while the "plastic ban order" not only focuses on the use links, but also focuses on the whole process of production, circulation, use, recycling, and disposal; The "plastic order" did not engage in "one size fits all" regardless of the actual situation, and pointed out that plastic pre-packaged bags, roll bags, fresh-keeping bags, etc. used to contain bulk fresh food, cooked food, pasta and other commodities are not prohibited; "plastic ban" Expanded to "catering packaged takeaway services and various exhibition activities."
In order to promote the prohibition of non-reducible plastics, localities have combined "garbage classification" with "ban on plastics" to "correct" residents' living habits.
Of course, how to ensure that governance means establish a full-chain governance thinking, and work towards a more scientific, more complete, and more humane direction is the focus of the next "ban on plastics" to be explored. This requires that from production, use to recycling, from the government, the market to the individual, from compulsory rectification to flexible guidance, responsibility implementation and comprehensive application should be strengthened. Another thing to note is that whether large-scale catering companies, snack bars, or roadside stalls should be included in the scope of supervision, relevant government departments should avoid regulatory blind spots.
From a technical point of view, there are many options for environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic straws. How to control costs while improving user experience is a problem facing the industry. The price is too expensive, this is a very real problem. The improvement of degradable plastics' drop resistance, heat resistance, and corrosion resistance is another issue.
In this regard, some people in the industry pointed out that whether it is a price drop or a performance improvement, technological progress, policy assistance and public support are indispensable.
At present, many companies have gradually promoted to reduce the use of plastic straws. At the end of 2019, Starbucks stores in China will ban all plastic straws; on June 30 this year, McDonald’s China announced that it will phase out plastic straws. Nearly 1,000 restaurants in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen will be the first to stop using plastic straws for consumption. People can drink directly through the new cup lid;
The person in charge of Hey Tea introduced that all take-outs in Beijing have already delivered paper straws by default. As of June this year, Hey Tea has reduced the use of more than 11 million plastic straws.
Guide enterprises and individuals to improve their environmental protection concepts, actively seek alternatives, and strengthen the implementation of responsibilities with innovative methods, so that people are fully aware of the significance of "ban on plastics". However, compared to banning the use of straws, it is more difficult to ban the sale of plastic lunch boxes in catering and takeaway industries. This is a major problem that needs to be solved urgently.
