In the fight against litter, China will reduce the use of plastic and, at the same time, focus more on recycling plastic. To combat “the entire chain of plastic pollution”, the country will ban fragile plastic bags and promote other materials such as bamboo.
This is stated in a ‘five-year plan’ of the government, which must also ensure that by 2025 a third more city waste is incinerated every day.
China now uses 60 million tons of plastic per year, a third of which is recycled. Major cities have previously been urged to separate waste, build recycling plants and ban plastic products that can only be used once. A waste law was also passed last year, which made fines for offenders ten times higher.
In China, the use of microplastics in cosmetic products is also being curbed, which has already happened in the United States and Europe. Shopkeepers and deliverers must also stop “unreasonably” packaging products with plastic and promote other materials such as bamboo, wood, paper and biodegradable plastic.
A responsible government committee mainly points to the harmful effect of plastic because it is difficult to degrade and ends up in the water and the ground. “That creates visible pollution, soil damage, microplastics and other environmental risks,” said the committee, which talks about a global problem.