The whole society takes action to win the "protracted war" on plastic pollution control

Collaborative and linkage to carry out plastic pollution control

In recent years, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment have successively issued the "Opinions on Further Strengthening Plastic Pollution Control" and the "14th Five-Year Plan Plastic Pollution Control Action Plan" to vigorously promote plastic pollution control.

Under the guidance of the state, many provinces such as Beijing, Tianjin, Inner Mongolia, Anhui, and Shandong have also released their own key points and action plans for plastic pollution control, proposing measures to control plastic pollution, and clarifying the division of responsibilities among various government departments.

On June 5, the State Administration of Organ Affairs, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment jointly launched a poster with the theme of "Preventing Plastic Pollution and Building a Better Homeland Together"; The State Administration of Organs Affairs carried out cloud publicity activities through the online platform, and popularized relevant policies, standards and knowledge of plastic pollution control in public institutions in the form of knowledge contests.

Plastic pollution control does not happen overnight, but a "protracted battle" that requires the joint efforts of all parties. It requires the active participation and cooperation of government departments, enterprises, and the public to raise environmental awareness and practice a green lifestyle.

Enterprises take positive actions to contribute to innovation

Plastic-free packaging, plastic-reducing packaging, recycled material bottle labels, non-plastic film labels, label-free bottled beverages, environmentally friendly canvas bag packaging, tape-free zipper packaging...Recently, the first interactive gameplay based on green consumption in the e-commerce field, "Green Paradise", was officially launched on Taobao App, advocating the purchase of simple packaged products and promoting green consumption. Consumers can get a corresponding amount of “Little Green Flowers” from the “Green Park” when they buy marked green products and choose simple packaging on Taobao and Tmall, then exchange for environmentally friendly products or participate in public welfare.

In 2017, Eleme takeout APP started to launch the "no tableware required" function. On the occasion of World Environment Day, it even launched the "Happy planet of Chopsticks" activity. Starting from June 5th, a set of "Happy planet of Chopsticks" themed tableware will be rewarded to consumers who choose "no tableware required" for a long time and have high points in the carbon account of e-point carbon consumers.

On June 5, the launch page of the Meituan takeout APP advocated for food delivery users across the country to "prioritize food delivery without tableware, order reasonably and reduce waste", and linked pictures and texts to advocate the concept of green consumption and advocate environmental protection behaviors such as no need for tableware.

Key links such as express delivery and takeaway are in action

Express packaging and plastic take-out boxes are the most common white garbage in daily life, so they are also key areas for plastic pollution control. By visiting multiple express takeaway storage locations, the reporter observed that some express delivery has begun to use zipper packaging cartons instead of scotch tape for packaging. Cartons, paper bags and degradable plastic bags are also mostly used for takeaway packaging.

For express delivery and takeaway plastic packaging, in recent years, various localities have successively issued policies to manage them. In November 2021, Heilongjiang issued the "Opinions on Accelerating the Green Transformation of Express Packaging in Heilongjiang Province", which clarified that by 2025, non-degradable plastic packaging will be completely banned in Heilongjiang Province, and express packaging will basically realize green transformation; In May 2022, Beijing issued the "Beijing Plastic Pollution Control Action Plan 2022 Work Points", proposing that by the end of 2022, the city's express outlets will prohibit the use of non-degradable plastic packaging bags, disposable plastic woven bags, etc.; Hainan issued the "14th Five-Year Plan of Plastic Pollution Control Action Plan in Hainan Province", proposing that by 2025, plastic packaging reduction and substitution systems in retail, e-commerce, take-out, express delivery and other fields will be further improved, and alternative technologies, industrial chains and supply chains will be further improved.

With the concerted efforts of all parties, the management of express takeaway packaging has achieved certain results. The data shows that by the end of 2021, the application rate of electronic waybills in the postal express industry in Hainan Province has reached 99%; the application rate of "slimming tape" with a width of less than 45 mm has reached 99%, saving more than 25% of materials compared with 60 mm tape; The proportion of packaging materials that meet the standards is up to 99%, and heavy metals and plastic bags with specific substances exceeding the standard are basically eliminated. In 2021, through research on various express delivery scenarios and user scenarios, SF Express will realize refined modification and innovation of packaging material adaptation, combined with operating procedures to limit excessive packaging, reduce the use of base paper by about 34,000 tons, and reduce the use of plastic by about 6,200 tons. In the first quarter of 2022, the number of disposable woven bags used by ZTO Express will be about 1/10 of that in the same period last year, and more than 1,200 postal express outlets will be newly installed on the entire network to meet national or local standards for packaging waste recovery devices. More than 36 million non-degradable plastic packaging bags were recycled and disposed of. (Chen Hui, Trainee Reporter, China Development and Reform News)

From: National Development and Reform Commission of the People's Republic of China