Guo Shipeng and Emma Graham-Harrison, PlanetArk 9 Jan 08;
BEIJING - China launched a surprise crackdown on plastic bags on Tuesday, banning production of ultra-thin bags and forbidding its supermarkets and shops from handing out free carriers from June 1.
China uses too many of the bags and fails to dispose of them properly, wasting valuable oil and littering the country, China's cabinet, the State Council, said in a notice posted on the central government Web site (www.gov.cn).
"Our country consumes huge amounts of plastic bags every year. While providing convenience to consumers, they have also caused serious pollution, and waste of energy and resources, because of excessive use and inadequate recycling," it said.
Worries about pollution are growing among ordinary citizens, as years of breakneck growth take their toll on the country's air and water, but the new ban may not be universally welcomed.
Late last year the southern boom town of Shenzhen sparked a public controversy by unveiling draft regulations to ban free plastic bags in its shops.
Shopkeepers fretted that customers might be turned away and some people accused the government of making residents shoulder the costs of environmental protection.
Part of the new rules seem similar to the Shenzhen plan, stating that from June shops, supermarkets and sales outlets would be forbidden to offer free plastic bags and all carriers must be clearly marked with their prices.
"We should encourage people to return to carrying cloth bags, using baskets for their vegetables," the notice said.
In addition the manufacture, sale and use of bags under 0.025 mm thick is banned from the same date, with fines and confiscation of goods and profits for firms that flout the rules.
The cabinet also said finance authorities should consider adjusting taxes to discourage the production and sale of plastic bags and encourage the recycling industry.
Rubbish collectors were urged to separate plastic for reprocessing and cut the amount burnt or buried.
The move brings China in line with a growing international trend to cut back use of plastic bags. From Ireland to Uganda and South Africa governments have experimented with heavy taxes, outright bans or eliminating the thinnest bags.
In some countries where the central government has not acted communities ranging from San Francisco to a small British town have taken unilateral action to outlaw the carriers.
Chinese people use up to 3 billion plastic bags a day and the country has to refine 5 million tonnes (37 million barrels) of crude oil every year to make plastics used for packaging, according to a report on the Web site of China Trade News (www.chinatradenews.com.cn).
Shoppers in China will have to pay for plastic bags: govt
Yahoo News 8 Jan 08;
Shoppers in China will have to pay for plastic bags at supermarkets and other retail stores as part of a nationwide crackdown on the environmentally damaging items, the government has announced.
The production, sale and use of plastic shopping bags thinner than 0.025 millimetres (0.001 inches) will also be banned completely, the State Council, or cabinet, said in a statement posted on its website late Tuesday.
"Plastic shopping bags, due to reasons such as excessive use and inefficient recycling, have caused serious energy and resources waste and environment pollution," the statement said.
"The super thin bags (those thinner than 0.025 mm) have especially become a main source of plastic pollution as they are easy to break and thus disposed of carelessly."
The new rules will take effect starting June 1, the cabinet said, although it did not provide details on how much shoppers will have to pay for the bags.
The statement said companies would be urged to produce bags that are more endurable and recyclable, while consumers will be encouraged to use plastic shopping bags more sensibly.
In China, the overuse of plastic bags is a major problem.
In the booming southern city of Shenzhen, at least 1.75 billion plastic bags are used each year, according to previous data released by local authorities and published by the official Xinhua news agency.
Shenzhen's environmental protection department said the bags were posing a huge environmental problem, as they generally did not decompose for 200 years, while some never would at all, Xinhua reported.
Ahead of the national directive, Shenzhen announced in November it was considering placing fees on the use of plastic bags, with fines of up to 50,000 yuan (6,800 dollars) for retailers that gave them away for free.
However whether the national crackdown will be implemented remains in doubt, since local authorities are infamous in China for ignoring directives from the central government that aim to curb pollution among many other issues.
