Near the afternoon, Beijing City, Chaoyang District Jintai Road a supermarket Cashier, not many customers. The basket is filled with 5 root water bamboo, two bales of coriander, two packs of Steamed Buns, 62 year old Wang aunt did not like the other customers like to buy plastic shopping bags supermarket, he took out a bag from his pocket. She said, bag than plastic bags, to mention no strong hand, has been used for several years.

At the end of December 2007, the "notice" the general office of the State Council on the restriction of production and sales of the use of plastic shopping bags issued. In the past 10 years, the notice, known as the "plastic limiting order", has been very effective in limiting and reducing the use of plastic bags. However, with the passage of time, especially with the rapid development of export and express industries in recent years, the effect of "plastic limiting order" has gradually weakened.

At the beginning of November this year, the national development and Reform Commission relevant responsible person said, prepared jointly with the relevant departments on the adjustment of the "plastic limit"; the State Post Bureau and other 10 departments have jointly issued a document to promote green packaging express industry. Experts say this means that the "plastic limiting order" will usher in a new period of additional implementation. But in order to achieve the expected effect, we need policy guidance, consumption consciousness, substitutes R & D and production supply to manage comprehensively.

1, the overlay of the problem and the decrease of consumption

The Circular of the general office of the State Council on restricting production, sale and use of plastic shopping bags stipulates that "from June 1, 2008, we will prohibit the production, sale and use of plastic shopping bags less than 0.025 millimeters across the country". "Since June 1, 2008, in all supermarkets, shopping malls, retail markets and other commodity retail establishments, the system of paid use of plastic shopping bags will not be provided free." In the past 10 years, how did the "plastic limit order" be carried out?

Reporters visited several supermarkets in Chaoyang District, Beijing, and found that almost every supermarket had different models of plastic bags in the checkout area. These plastic bags were 0.2 yuan each and a large size was 0.3 yuan each. Because the hand Raven food special bags in the food shopping area are basically free, so almost every customer has five or six such plastic bags in the shopping basket.

The plastic bags provided by most large supermarkets are high density polyethylene plastic bags with "QS" marks, national standard numbers, thickness, manufacturers and other information. The bag also says: "to protect the environment, encourage the use of plastic shopping bags many times; after abandonment, it is suggested to be recycled and reused." The staff said this plastic bag is nontoxic and tasteless and can be filled with food.

"Now a lot of consumers, especially the elderly, are prepared for their own plastic bags or environmental shopping bags, and people's awareness of environmental protection is increasing." A cashier at a large supermarket chain near General Hospital of Civil Aviation, China, said she had tens of thousands of transactions a day, of which the percentage of customers who bought plastic bags was 1/3.

Data released by the national development and Reform Commission last year showed that the use of plastic bags in supermarkets and shopping malls decreased by more than 2/3, and the total number of plastic bags was reduced by over 1 million 400 thousand tons, which is equivalent to 8 million 400 thousand tons of oil saved.

However, in some farmers' markets and commodity retail places, the problem of the wanton circulation of ultra thin plastic bags still exists. In a farmer's market near Dahuang bridge in Chaoyang District, Beijing, almost all operators offer plastic bags free of charge. These plastic bags, no manufacturers and production specifications, the thickness is also significantly lower than the 0.025 millimeter "plastic limit" requirements. At the side of the road, because some fruit vendors provide free plastic bags for free, many customers ask for a few bags when they buy things.

At the same time, with the rise of "Internet plus", express and takeaway area gradually become the use of plastic bags "big". Relevant statistics show that the use of plastic bags in China's express industry last year was about 14 billion 700 million. This year, the number of "double 11" packages is expected to reach 1 billion 500 million, most of which contain plastic bags that are not degradable.

In addition, the recent takeaway big data of takeaway APP "hungry" showed that the scale of Chinese takeaway market reached 600 million. In 2016, the frequency of online takeout users consumed more than 3 times per week, accounting for 63.3%. According to this data, more than 300 million takeaway products will be delivered per week. If we take 1 plastic bags for each takeaway, 300 million plastic bags will be generated. If these plastic bag waste can not be effectively treated, it will be a serious ecological pollution.

In general, the "plastic limiting order" has indeed played a role in improving the consumer's awareness of environmental protection and reduced the use of plastic bags in the early stage of implementation. But in recent years, due to the unsolved problem of ultra-thin plastic bags circulating, the field of express delivery and takeaway has become a new blind spot for plastic bags supervision, which has led to a rebound in the implementation effect of "plastic limit".

2, "gray zone" affects the effect of "plastic limiting"

With the "plastic limit" landing, the Ministry of Commerce, the national development and Reform Commission and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce in 2008 jointly issued the "management measures" compensation for the use of plastic bags in retailing, the formulation of the relevant penalties to consumers free of charge or disguised to provide free plastic bags, but the actual effect is not satisfactory.

On the one hand, it is an important reason that the law enforcement departments have difficulty in obtaining evidence and difficult to punish. Although many market and quality supervision bureaus often check the manufacturers of plastic bags and punish violations, some "black workshops" which do not register for illegal production of ultra-thin plastic bags are very hidden, which is very difficult for source supervision. At the same time, the lack of continuity in law enforcement in some places has led to the continued use of ultra-thin plastic bags in many farmers' markets and individual businesses.

On the other hand, the limitation of the "plastic limiting order" itself has produced many "gray zones". Due to the fact that the number of self shopping bags is less and less, most of the customers will directly purchase plastic bags for the convenience of maps. Supermarkets become the biggest beneficiaries, making the "plastic limit" change to "sell plastic orders".

In addition, in recent years, in recent years, express delivery, online or offline shopping has been made by plastic bags, and the "plastic limit" has not clearly stipulated, giving plastic bags a chance to continue flooding. There are 3 key problems in express packaging: first, plastic bags, woven bags and transparent tapes can not be degraded; two, toxic and hazardous substances exist; three, green packaging standard labels and inspection and testing institutions are not perfect. Express package is mostly made of two times material, and the value of no reproduction and remanufacture after recovery. The vast majority of packaging and other garbage, like direct landfill or incineration, part of the value of the express delivery package is polluted, it is difficult to recycle and reuse from massive waste. Zhu Lei, vice president of the Qingdao Research Institute at Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication, said.

At the same time, the cost of biodegradable material plastic bag and environmental shopping bag is high, which limits its large-scale promotion. Generally speaking, the cost of biodegradable plastic bags is 2 to 3 times that of traditional plastic bags. At present, the output of bio plastics and degradable plastics is only 10 million tons in the whole country, which is obviously different from the annual output of tens of millions of tons of traditional plastics.

It is also an important reason why the "plastic limiting order" is difficult to be carried out by consumers in the unknown or subjective idea of the "plastic limiting order". Located in the General Hospital of Civil Aviation near a large supermarket, the reporter interviewed 10 customers are shopping, 9 of them agree with the "plastic bags will cause white pollution, but only 2 people with plastic bags, and a lot of customers that often accept stores, such as express delivery, to provide free ultra-thin plastic bags".

In the absence of low - cost and environmentally friendly alternatives, experts say, it is difficult to achieve an environmental vision with high cost of abstract moral responsibility.

3. The emphasis of the "plastic limiting order" is carried out.

In November 2nd at the twelve session of the thirtieth meeting of the NPC Standing Committee plenary meeting, director of the national development and Reform Commission said he Lifeng, prepared jointly with the relevant departments on the adjustment of the "plastic limit", on the development of the electricity supplier, express, takeaway industry to limit a series of related implementation plan of non degradable plastic packaging, while urging the local special is the city to increase efforts to implement. In addition, we will promote new materials, circulate and degradable packaging materials that are ripe for technology and mature, and have relatively perfect industrial foundation. They will be widely applied in mature industries and industries.

The State Post Bureau and other 10 departments jointly issued a document to the beginning of November, to promote the courier industry of green packaging, put forward to 2020, improve the application proportion of green packaging materials degradable to 50%. This means that the "plastic limiting order" will usher in a new period of additional implementation.

However, to truly implement the overweight, the relevant departments need to introduce rules, clear all aspects of regulators, producers, sellers and consumers of the responsibility and obligation to change the "plastic limit" law, law enforcement is lax. "The rules without the rules are like the toothless tigers, which look great, but they do not work well." Huang Liling, a lawyer in Beijing Mian Mian law firm, said.

On the one hand, we should "block" and contain it from the source. Since the "plastic limiting order" was originally carried out by the government, it can not be fully realized by the merchant. Environmental protection, quality supervision, industry and commerce departments must be in a plastic bag production approval, monitoring and enforcement of Henzhao implementation, not illegal products into the market.

Since January 1, 2015, Jilin has banned the production, sale and supply of disposable degradable plastic shopping bags and plastic tableware. It has become the first comprehensive plastic ban province in the country. At present, the big supermarkets and shopping malls in Changchun have basically completed the replacement of the plastic bags to the traditional plastic bags. Now that there is a feasible pilot, it is necessary to improve the "plastic limit" to "Prohibition of plastic products" through legislation in the whole country, and how to solve the problems such as the high cost of substitute products and the lack of supervision power, so we need to make full research.

On the other hand, it should be "sparse" to perfect the whole chain system design for the sale, use and recovery of plastic bags. Through government subsidies, we can give some incentives to consumers who use environmental bags and encourage more people to develop a good habit of carrying bags with them. At the same time, we can refer to the experience of overseas countries, the proper price rise of plastic bags, everyone "tearing bag" may stop a stop.

In addition, as a substitute for environmental protection bags are most expensive and heavy. If we can make use of new materials such as biodegradation, improve the green content of plastic bags, and achieve parity and portability, I believe that many people will be willing to fulfill the responsibility of environmental protection.

The sharing mode has put forward new ideas to solve this problem. In this year's "double 11" period, a reusable shared courier box was developed, which not only solves the needs of users, but also encourages consumers to reduce the frequency of using plastic bags.

Of course, whether it is blocked or sparse, the most critical ridge is the change of public awareness of environmental protection. Taking the world's most successful Ireland as an example, besides raising taxes on plastic bags by collecting taxes, Ireland also focuses on the cultivation of citizen awareness. The government has been carrying out publicity and education in schools, communities, distributing environmental protection brochures, shopping bags and so on. Now, the whole society in Ireland has formed an atmosphere that does not accept or welcome plastic bags.

"The core value of the" plastic limiting order "is the transmission of such a message to the whole society - the price of resources, and the cost of the use of resources. Experts say that only by guiding the majority of consumers to form a sense of resource price and letting consumers mentally limit, can people actively participate in the "plastic limit", and ultimately achieve the goal of protecting resources and protecting the environment.

Germany

Establishment of plastic recovery and utilization system

In Germany, a complete system of plastic recycling has been established to reclaim the 99% used plastic bags.

German plastic packaging and film association responsible person said, the German plastic bag recycling system, to ensure that plastic bags are sorted for mechanical regeneration and energy recovery, will not remain in the environment.

In 2012, Germany used 6 billion plastic handbags, equivalent to 86 thousand tons of total consumption, and per capita consumption of 76 handbags per year. The German Packaging Market Research Association responsible person reported that the consumption of plastic bags per capita in Europe is 198 each year, and Germany's plastic bags consumption is less than half of that amount.

Ireland

Levying environmental tax on plastic bags

In order to curb the use of plastic shopping bags and reduce the white pollution, the Irish government began to levy environmental tax on plastic shopping bags in 2002. All the funds received were funded by the newly established environmental protection fund for environmental protection projects. Before the tax, the Irish shoppers used about 1 billion 200 million plastic bags a year. After the tax began in 2002, the Irish government earned 98 million 680 thousand dollars in taxes in 5 years, the use of plastic shopping bags decreased by 95%, the annual consumption per capita was 21, and the revenue before taxes was 328.

The Republic of Korea

Old shopping bags for new bags

Since February 1999, the South Korean government has implemented the law of resource conservation and resource reutilization. No matter how expensive the shopping mall is, it will not give shopping bags to shopping malls. If guests don't own bags, they will spend 100 won on paper bags or plastic bags. The store will cost recovery of these bags, customers can also take old bags used to store or supermarket new bag. Since the implementation of the shopping bag fee system in 1999, the use of plastic bags in South Korea has been reduced by 60%.

The People's Republic of Bangladesh

The violator will be sentenced to a sentence

Bangladesh has banned the use of plastic bags in March 2002. Before the ban, 9 million 500 thousand people in Dhaka, capital of the capital, consumed 10 million plastic bags a day. After the ban was issued, all 315 plastic bag factories in the country were closed, and the amount of plastic bags was reduced by 90%. In Bangladesh, people who have violated the law to import or sell plastic bags can be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years, and the plastic bags can be sentenced to 6 months in prison.

Britain

"No plastic movement" has risen long ago

Britain is one of the first countries to ban the use of plastic bags in Europe. In January 2007, 33 district governments in London jointly passed a bill to prohibit shops from giving free plastic bags to shoppers. If consumers really need, they must pay 15 pence taxes and fees. The aim of the law is to encourage businesses and customers to use environmentally friendly shopping bags to reduce the source of white pollution. Since the bill was proposed, the "non plastic movement" began to rise in Britain. London has therefore become the world's first big city to ban plastic bags.

Excerpts from the article: People's Daily Overseas Edition