Environment

Beijing says “bag it up,” but you can’t use plastic

Image via China Digital Times

The Beijing government issued a ban against plastic shopping bags in an effort to reduce “white pollution” and step up its recycling efforts. The ban is effective June 1.

• Shoppers: It’s BYO Bag in China
  By Christopher Bodeen
  Associated Press
  January 10, 2008

BEIJING (AP) — Declaring war on the “white pollution” choking its cities, farms and waterways, China is banning free plastic shopping bags and calling for a return to the cloth bags of old — steps largely welcomed by merchants and shoppers on Wednesday.

The measure eliminates the flimsiest bags and forces stores to charge for others, making China the latest nation to target plastic bags in a bid to cut waste and conserve resources.

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.

I recently arrived in Taiwan. One of the first things I noticed was that you have to pay a small fee for plastic bags at the store. Even the bags you use to throw out garbage cost money to purchase for household use. Though the fees are nominal, they definitely encourage me to Bring My Own Bag. Other nations that regulate the use of plastic bags include South Africa, Ireland and Bangladesh, according to the Associated Press.

To read more about the Beijing ban, click on these stories:

• China Bans Plastic Shopping Bags
  China Digital Times

• China Bans Free Plastic Bags
  Environment News Service
  
  
• They don’t grow on trees, you know - so goodbye, free plastic bags
  Times Online

• Video: A greener China bans free plastic bags
  AlJazeera English

One thing I wonder about is how this might affect the hundreds of peddlers who collect plastic bags to make a profit off of their own underground recycling operations. Even if the new law does put these guys “out of business,” I believe that Beijing is doing the right thing by taking a stand against the careless use of plastic. (Although, read this interesting piece, “In Defence of Plastic Bags,” by Megan Lane of the BBC, for a different perspective…)

Other resources:

• Plastic Bags Reduction Network
  
• China Plastics Processing Industry Association (CPPIA)
• Worldwatch Institute - Plastic Bags

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