Packaging

Plastic Bag Ban Begins in China

Saturday 07. June 2008 - On June 1, this year, China joined a growing list of nations, from Canada to Bangladesh, to combat the increasing environmental problems caused by plastic bags. The nation's ban on the production of plastic bags under 0.025mm thick is already well underway, with shopkeepers barred from handing out free plastic bags except for fresh and cooked foods.

Ultra-thin plastic bags are the principal target of the crackdown because they are typically used once and then discarded, adding to waste in a country that is increasingly conscious of the air and water pollution caused by its breakneck economic growth.

China uses 37m barrels of what is now very expensive crude oil each year to churn out the 3 billion plastic bags that its 1.3bn people use on average each day, according to official figures. Ma Zhanfeng, secretary-general of the China Plastics Processing Industry Association, expects the ban to bite. ‘Domestic demand for plastic bags will drop drastically from 1.6m tons a year to around 1.1m tons,” said Ma, who has nearly 20 years’ experience in the industry.

Plastic bag makers have already felt the pinch from the looming restrictions. Some have even been forced out of business. But Tootoo.com, experts in Chinese industry and B2B exports, say that the impact upon plastic bag manufacturers hinges on whether the new rules are enforced or not. “This is especially important in larger cities like Beijing, where demand for plastic bags is huge,” said a spokesman. “The implementation and monitoring of the law will ultimately determine the future of the plastic bags industry.”

Xiao Ling, the mother of a 6-year-old boy, said her family was already in the habit of using nylon shopping bags. But she, too, was skeptical. “Getting rid of all ultra-thin plastic bags will take a long time,” she said while out shopping at a Wal-Mart supermarket in Beijing.