China Launches Crackdown on Plastic Bags
by Alex Pasternack, New York, NY 
on 01. 9.08
The notice that appeared on the website of China's State Council yesterday came as a welcome surprise: Starting in June, all shops will be forbidden from offering free plastic bags. Meanwhile, super-thin bags have been banned. Consumers are being asked to "go back to" using cloth bags and baskets. Meanwhile, Tibet's provincial government announced that it intends to ban all plastic bags period.
By targeting those pesky bags, China joins a growing club that includes Ireland, Uganda, South Africa, Russia, Hong Kong, and San Francisco (see the SCMP's rundown here). With the right enforcement -- that's always the tricky part -- and education campaigns, the upshot in China could be huge: China Trade News estimates that the country of 1.3 billion people must refine 5 million tons, or 37 million barrels, of crude oil every year to meet demand for plastic bags, which are used at a rate of 3 billion bags every day. Three billion. If that estimate is right, that means China uses as many bags in two weeks one month as the U.S. uses in a year--or that would mean that every day each Chinese citizen uses twice the amount of bags that each American uses.
As the State Council's announcement put it:
While providing convenience to consumers, they have also caused serious pollution, and waste of energy and resources, because of excessive use and inadequate recycling. Especially thin plastic shopping bags, which are easily damaged, are often discarded, becoming the main source of "white pollution." At present more and more countries and regions have already restricted plastic shopping bags, their production, sale, and use.For the implementation of the scientific concept of development and building a resource-saving and environment-friendly society, from the source to take effective measures, and urge enterprises producing durable, easy recycling of plastic shopping bags, guide and encourage the rational use of plastic shopping bags to promote integrated resource use, and protect the ecological environment, to further promote energy-saving reduction, the State Council agrees to strictly limit plastic shopping bags...
The cabinet also told finance authorities to consider adjusting taxes to discourage the production of plastic bags and to encourage the recycling industry. Rubbish collectors have been urged to separate plastic for reprocessing and cut the amount of bags burnt or buried.
The government's move comes on the heels of a draft resolution passed by the government of the southern city of Shenzhen that proposed similar regulations. Though that idea sparked a small public controversy -- people claimed the rules would hurt consumers and shop-owners -- there's no saying no to the State Council. While enforcement will be challenging, the spirit of the government's order is one that is already resonating here.
So far, public response has been mixed: an online poll showed 50% of respondents against the ban. In Beijing, a set of grassroots campaigns against plastic bags launched in 2006 has been well received. IKEA and Wal-Mart launched promotions to get Beijingers to use reusable cloth bags for sale at the check-out counter. And this past year, after a stampede in Hong Kong for the "I'm Not a Plastic Bag" bag led to a "ban" of the bag on the mainland, copies of it and other tote bags with environmental messages turned up on the shoulders of fashionistas around the capital.
Australia is also considering a plastic bag ban, for implementation in 2009. But as Planet Ark founder Jon Dee points out, "the fact that China desires to do it in less than six months, I think is a sign that ... we could do it faster than that."
He continues: "The fact that the biggest country in the world, the biggest users of plastic bags, are moving to ban them ... is extremely important, because if it can be done in China it can be done in any country in the world."
via Reuters
Also on Treehugger: To Be Buried Under Plastic Bags and Powerbooks, Ugandans Give New Life to Plastic Bags, IKEA US to Bag the Bag
Photo by Chris Jordan
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- How to Keep Your Reusable Bags Clean and Safe
- Green Glossary: Plastic Bag
- Stop Buying Packaged Cereal! 5 Awesome Granola Recipes to Try Instead
- Reuse Those Plastic Cups As Earrings
- Surf Green with Eco-Friendly Surf Gear
- What's the Big Deal with Forgetting Your Reusable Bags?
Of course the US will not do this.
Your math is way off. If China consumes 3 billion bags per day, this is 2.3 bags/person/day. Two weeks of consumption in China is 42 billion bags. If this is the same as 52 weeks in the US, then the US consumes 120 million bags/day, or each American consumes 0.4 bags/day.
Therefore, China consumes bags at a per-capita rate that is nearly 6 times higher than the US, not 2 times.
--
Alex responds:
Sorry about that: I was off by a factor of 2. The US was estimated in 2004 to consume 84 billion bags per day, not 42. So China consumes the same amount as the US does in one month. The per person estimate stands however: .76 bags per person per day in the US, vs. 2.3 bags in China. (While I think the magnitude is roughly correct, I still think we need to take these statistics with a grain of salt.)
the awesome sweeping power of communist government.
Banning plastic bags in the United States would be monumental and wonderful! I carry my own bags often because it is annoying to have so many bags in my pantry that multiply.
Now imagine millions of people have that same problem. There are just so many plastic bags or bags that you can use for that matter. When I was a child, my grandmother would carry her own bags to the store because then she wouldn't have to get new bags to clutter her pantry and she would only have one bag to empty.
I do the same thing now, instead of having to unload six plastic bags, I can unload one and reuse the one.
People should start carrying their own bags, no matter what material and reuse them until the bags have no life left. This self-policing will have a greater impact on the amount of resources that are used to make "throw away" items like plastic bags.
Definitely a step in the right direction. I wonder, though, about the Council's comment re: the consumer "convenience" of plastic bags. Their fragility is enough to mark them as inconvenient, to say nothing of the fact that users have to dispose of them once they have been emptied, which, practically speaking, leads to more trips to the garbage bin. Perhaps it is less a shift in policy than a shift in perspective -- even for the policy-makers. Thanks for posting.
Finally, a positive story about China that you're sharing with your community.
The green sector is alive and well in China, the mainstream media just never covers it because it's much easier to single them out as a negative example than to take the effort to seek out positive improvements.
I have featured several stories thus far on China's emerging green sector and the growing interest in sustainable development on my doing business in China show. Thanks for taking the step in the right direction in becoming more aware of China from another angle other than toxic barbie dolls and whatever else CNN covers.
This just in:
Penalty for using plastic bags in Communist Red China is solitary confinement in jail for 10 years.
If the consumption of plastic bags is not lowered the Chief of the Green Council of the Chinese government will be hanged or shot by firing squad.
Yep, it's always great when a Communist country supresses it's people, even when it comes to the use of plastic bags.
This just in:
Penalty for using plastic bags in Communist Red China is solitary confinement in jail for 10 years.
If the consumption of plastic bags is not lowered the Chief of the Green Council of the Chinese government will be hanged or shot by firing squad.
Yep, it's always great when a Communist country supresses it's people, even when it comes to the use of plastic bags.
Yes, let's focus on plastic bags and other empty gestures to save the environment. First of all, I and others use the plastic bags as garbage bags and to pick up dog excrement. Therefore, the only thing that banning plastic bags does for me and others is to force us to buy trash bags that are more harmful to the environment. If you don't need a bag, bring your own cloth bag. If you really want to save the environment, stop buying bottled water, only buy local produce, support farmers markets, and stop driving. These can have real impact on the environment. Since these require lifestyle changes, we don't here stories support for banning bottled water sales or sales of fruit out of season . Instead we get "feel good" stories that make people think that they are saving the environment by trying to ban plastic bags while real pollution and resource issues remain unaddressed.
To those that want to ban plastic bags, are you for banning bottled water sales which are much more harmful to the environment?
Also, paper bags are not any friendlier to the environment than grocery store plastic bags. Note that it is important to calculate how much resources were used to create the product and in the case of paper bags, eliminating trees which are habitats and carbon sinks, not just the biodegradability of the product.
Unless the place you live does NOT require you to bag your trash and/or you don't have a dog, grocery store plastic bags are the most environmentally friendly trash bags that are readily available to most people.
I think you naysayers are idiots, many plastic bags used in shopping would at least reduce the impact and use less oil, let's face this, plastic is an oil product. Oil is only going to go up, any attempt at being efficient with oil is better then none.
Toad: You're absolutely right: a demand for plastic bags = a demand for oil — something we're fast depleting.
Vernon: Sure, supporting farmers markets, eating locally (and seasonally), and reducing gasoline consumption through fewer car trips are excellent ways to reduce our impact. But to suggest that banning plastic bags is a "feel-good" way to tackle earth-conservation is shortsighted. Every little bit helps, right? If we lower the call for petroleum-based products, we lower the call for petroleum. Simple as that.
This is definitely what America needs to do as well. It's not that hard to imagine us living without them. I would also take it a step further and ban plastic water bottles. Im not sure of the statistics, but water bottles are sold in astounding numbers here in america, and are tap water is one of the best filtered in the world. We should filter our own water, or mandate water companies too. We'll just have to suffer the inconvinence of not carrying a pretty plastic bottle around, oh well. It's better to drive the price down in gas do to supply and demand then to carry a water bottle around. If we ban both plastic bags and water bottles, we would save soo much oil, it would surely be a step in the right direction.
I translated the original document and follow alot of the chinese site. The likely out come is a thicker bag charged for in China. Many of the news sites are translating the "policy" (it was not listed as a law). The other problem that people are over looking is that the Central government did not establish fines or penalties rather they pushed all enforcement and penalties on the local governments. In the past this has led to minimal enforcement. So why did they even do it?
China has a grave environmental situation on all fronts and the Olympics are coming. This policy was set to go in effect on June 1st 2008 a prior to the Olympics and tourist surge. It is likely that this "policy" was designed to be a distraction / talking point to provide foreign reporters that will be in China at that time. Merely a distraction it is likely to be stringently enforced near Olympic and tourist sites and likely to fall out of favor some time in the fall.
Additionally you need to understand the product they are addressing. The super thin bag is not something you would see in the west. So it is likely they will just go to a slightly more expensive and thicker western bag standard.
Why not just require degradable plastic addatives like most european countries are going to?
note: laws are not followed in china.
Before the plastic bag was introduced to Asia, the Asians always go shopping with their own baskets. Too bad, like the invasion of junk food from the west, we were invaded by plastic bags too.
As far as I know, China has done a lot this recent years to address the environmental issues. Especially with this unexpected snow storm in China, I bet the government will be more serious and tough on environmental issue. Unfortunately, the other biggest producer of CO2 isn't that enthusiast. Maybe Arnold for the next president if the people are willing to change the constitution?
why just ban plastic bag? how about those plastic bottles and plastic containers like shampoo, shower gel, cooking oil etc ....? Why can't those company just build a vending machine for stuff like shampoo and shower gel so that people can just bring the container to refill? This can save billions of ton of plastic containers yearly being landfill. Hotel should also install refillable shapoo or shower gel container in the shower room instead of giving container for customer.
We're all watching China, hoping they clean up their environment. This is one very impressive step in that direction. Especially for a country with 1.5 billion people living in it. So who are the people running China? 52 of them are identified in the Most wanted Chinese Playing Cards http://mostwantedchineseplayingcards.com
This is just stupidity in the extreme. I have issue on even dry cleaning. The next thing we will also have to take containers for all our food. What are they going to do about this plastic wastage. There has been a huge drop in patronage at supermarkets in China, as they are charging 20-50c’s per plastic bag. I walked away from a Shenzhen up themselves supermarket because they wanted 50c’s per bag and left them to restock the shelf for the food I was about to buy. HK tried banning bags at the end of 2007, and it lasted three days as people walked away from the supermarket that tried it. Now they are trying NO BAGS TUESDAY??? People are responsible; it is the refuse people that do not take due care in their disposal. I would not recommend any one go shopping in HK or China now, as it is so inconvenient. Along with all the other issue of Visa etc.
If you want to see environmental pollution just go to any major city in China and see the dirty filthy air. I have been in Beijing twice in the past two weeks, and if you can see more than 300-500 metres you are extremely lucky. Shenzhen and Hong Kong are just as bad, they used t have blue skies, not any more. I would hate to be bringing up a family in any of these polluted cities, the future is not good. And you can’t tell me this is because of plastic bags. And what are they now going to do with all their toilet and kitchen waste. I presume this will be dumped in smelly piles in the streets all over again, and we will be back to SARS, Hepatitis and TB issue will be rampant all over again as well as Bird Flu. Hong Kong has major issues in this area as did China with a Foot and Mouth outbreak that has swept from Northern China to Hong Kong killing many children these past months. The problem is Beijing coughs, and the rest of China gets the flu. There is only one religion in HK and China MONEY.
Haha wern't plastic bags invented as an environmental solution to paper sacks? AT least paper bags are useful after you are done carrying your groceries home, and they biodegrade, and trees are renewable.
Seriously, what do cities that ban plastic bags do about garbage bags? Someone posted that question earlier but I didn't see an answer. People create carbon dioxide when they breathe, maybe we should ban breathing too. If you ban something needed you have to offer an alternative.
If you have ever been to china you know they need to crack down on this problem. Here in taiwan our beaches have plastic everywhere, its a big problem.
I hate the use of plastic bags.
They biodegrade very slowly. In fact, they photodegrade which means they over time break down into smaller, more toxic petro-polymers which eventually contaminate soils and waterways. As a consequence their microscopic particles can enter the food chain.
When plastic bags don't get dumped in landfill sites or incinerated, they often find their way into the sea via drains, rivers and sewage pipes. According to the British Antarctic Survey, plastic bags have been found floating north of the Arctic Circle near Spitzbergen, and as far south as the Falkland Islands.
The Center for Marine Conservation based in Washington D.C. recently completed a five year study into ocean debris. Their National Marine Debris Monitoring Program recorded that plastic bags accounted for over 10 percent of the debris washed up on the U.S. coastline.
The effect on wildlife can be catastrophic, with birds becoming terminally entangled and, according to a World Wildlife Fund report in 2005, they affect nearly 200 different species of sea life (including whales, dolphins, seals and turtles) which die after ingesting plastic bags which they mistake for food.
China has never been considered an environmental role model. According to the Daily Mail, China uses more plastic bags than any other country.
Yet, in a bolt from the blue, it looks like the red has embraced green.
The nationwide ban will no doubt help correct China’s tarnished image,
In the US, more than 100 billion plastic bags are discarded annually.
But as many as 3 billion plastic bags a day are used in China, putting intolerable pressure on the country's resources, taking up landfills, clogging waterways and creating litter.
A government Web site is calling on shoppers to turn to cloth bags and shopping baskets to reduce the use of plastic.
Unfortunately only a handful of governments in the world have banned free plastic bags. In Asia, Taiwan and Bangladesh have imposed bans. And Hong Kong and Australia are considering measures to curb plastic bag litter.
Maybe its time for the rest of the world to get a little greener.
Wow thats alot of bags dude!
The Olympic games in China has had a great impact.
The ban takes effect June 1, barely two months before Beijing hosts the Summer Olympic Games, ahead of which it has been demolishing run-down neighborhoods and working to clear smog.
The games have added impetus to a number of policies and projects, likely boosting odds for the bag ban's implementation.
Way to go China.
In Vietnam, almost supermarkets have eliminated plastic bags.
In Vietnam, almost supermarkets have eliminated plastic bags.
I think that the streets are going to go from being littered with plastic bags to clean virtually overnight. The reason I think it will worked is because they charged for the bags, not a lot, but enough for people to realize that it was easier to change their habits than to pay every time they needed a bag.