China Pledges to Ban Plastic Straws by End of 2020 in Momentous Attack on Non-Degradables

The landfills of north Beijing have been overflowing for years, but last year the city finally started to get its act together, rolling out new rules for recycling that take aim at unrepentantly wasteful waimai delivery services. Still, even these right-minded policies aren’t enough to relieve us of the piles of trash that are bound to remain for hundreds of years, and it seems that officials are starting to wise up.

The latest round of rules on plastics will be implemented nationwide over the next five years, and changes will come quickly: by the end of 2020, restaurants will be banned from using plastic straws and plastic bags will be banned in major cities except those used for fresh produce, which the government intends to phase out completely by 2025. By then, the country’s restaurant industry will also be required to reduce single-use plastics by 30 percent, while hotels too will be forced to reduce disposable plastic use. Meanwhile, the management system for plastic production and circulation will undergo a complete overhaul.

For environmental activists, the move is welcomed, if overdue. Plastic campaigner for Greenpeace Damin Tang told the Beijinger that he is impressed by how seriously China is now pushing for reusable containers and a cyclical economy, adding that “Single-use plastics [have] finally [been] named outright as the core of China’s plastic pollution crisis.”

As good as it all sounds, there is always a catch. Tang says that he is less than satisfied with the language in the new rule that refers to so-called biodegradable plastics, a term which has no strict definition and, in some cases, can refer to plastics that take over 100 years to degrade.

“Biodegradable plastics only work under strictly controlled conditions,” he explains. “They also easily mix into non-degradable plastics and disrupt recycling.”

However, there is no doubt that the removal of straws and plastic bags is a step in the right direction, and given how quickly the changes are coming, there is still a good chance that these concerns will be addressed in the near future. In the meantime, buy yourself a metal straw, already.

READ: In Beijing, Cash Rules Everything (Including the Environment)

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