Will ban on free plastic bags work?

Activists say it will be difficult to enforce the new Chinese rules
Straits Times 2 Jun 08;

BEIJING - RETAILERS in China, including supermarkets, department stores and grocery stores, have stopped providing free plastic bags since yesterday in a bid to curb pollution.

But there are doubts that the ban will be effective in a country that uses one trillion of them a year.

Environmental organisations questioned whether the ban on free plastic shopping bags could be implemented effectively across the whole country.

'The question remains about the smaller shops, particularly when you go out of the bigger cities to smaller towns. Are they going to have the same law enforcement?' asked Ms Sze Pang Cheung, communications director for Greenpeace China.

'China has had a poor record of enforcing its environmental law in the past. Many of the pieces of legislation are well drafted, but the problem is enforcement.'

Some shoppers admitted they would be tempted to buy plastic bags from supermarkets. The bags could cost as little as 0.1 yuan (two Singapore cents) each.

'If I go to the supermarket, I might still choose to buy the plastic bags because it is more convenient,' said Ms Wang Yongjiang, 26.

A woman who identified herself only by her surname Zhang yesterday stuffed groceries into a bag that cost her 0.2 yuan at a Wal-Mart outlet in Shenzhen. 'I would have put them in two bags before,' she said.

Ms Sze said that despite doubts over enforcement, it was a good step for China to have introduced a progressive regulation that few other countries have embraced.

Under the new rules, retailers are free to set prices for shopping bags. But they must not be cheaper than the costs.

'Retailers are worried that they might lose customers if they charge too much for shopping bags,' said Ministry of Commerce official Men Xiaowei.

'But our goal is to reduce the use of plastic bags. It is a 'habit revolution',' he added.

Retailers that did not list shopping bags on receipts or continued to provide free plastic bags would be fined between 5,000 and 10,000 yuan, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce said.

The country uses an estimated three billion plastic bags a day.

Most Chinese people are in favour of the ban on free plastic bags, saying it is a good move towards protecting the environment.

A survey conducted by CIIC-COMR, an online market research company, of nearly 5,200 people from around the country revealed that 77.5 per cent of respondents supported the move.

However, a survey conducted by the Social Survey Institute of China found that 69.2 per cent believed it would have only limited effect as many consumers would continue to pay for plastic bags, Xinhua reported.

And some vendors are still handing out free bags for fear that the additional cost would drive customers away.

Said Mr Xu Chengfeng, a vegetable seller in Nanjing, capital of the eastern province of Jiangsu: 'I lost 10 sales this morning just because of the 0.5-yuan fee for bags.'

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, XINHUA

China tries to curb addiction to plastic bags
Marianne Barriaux, Yahoo News 1 Jun 08;

China joined a small group of nations Sunday in restricting the use of plastic bags, but there are doubts the rule would be effective in a country that consumes one trillion of them a year.

Supermarkets and other shops began charging for plastic bags as a government crackdown on the environmentally damaging items creaked into action.

The production, sale and use of ultra-thin plastic shopping bags was also banned in an attempt to rid the country of the "white pollution" that clogs its waterways, farms and fields.

Only a few other countries, ranging from Ireland to Bangladesh, have already taken similar measures.

But environmental organisations questioned whether the ban on free plastic shopping bags could be effectively implemented in the entire country.

"The question remains about the smaller shops, particularly when you go out of the bigger cities to smaller towns -- are they going to have the same law enforcement?" questioned Sze Pang Cheung, comunications director for Greenpeace China.

"China has had a poor record of enforcing its environmental law in the past -- laws about pollution, the environmental impact assessment in factories. Many of the pieces of legislation are well drafted, but the problem is enforcement."

Some shoppers admitted they might still be tempted to buy plastic bags from supermarkets, which could cost as little as 0.1 yuan (0.01 dollars) each.

"If I go to the supermarket, I might still choose to buy the plastic bags because it is more convenient," Wang Yongjiang, 26, told AFP in front of a supermarket in central Beijing.

China, like many other countries, is addicted to the use of plastic bags.

A trip down to the supermarket only serves to confirm that. Every non-food item, be it a sponge or toothbrush, is wrapped into a small plastic bag before being added into a bigger bag full of groceries.

The country consumes an estimated three billion plastic bags a day.

The official Xinhua news agency reported that consumers used more than one billion plastic bags a day at supermarkets, quoting an expert at the textile industry association in the eastern province of Shandong.

Another two billion were consumed daily in other places.

Most Chinese people are in favour of the ban on free plastic bags, saying it is a good move towards protecting the environment in a country known for its huge pollution problems.

A survey conducted by CIIC-COMR, an online market research company, on nearly 5,200 people from around the country revealed that 77.5 percent of the respondents supported the move.

Sze said that despite doubts over enforcement, it was a good step for China to have come out with a progressive regulation that few other countries in the world have embraced.

"But plastic bags are not the worst environmental problems in China, far from it. Air quality, for example, is much worse," she cautioned.

China kicks off drive to kick plastic bag habit
Reuters 1 Jun 08;

BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Sunday became the latest country to declare war on plastic bags in a drive to save energy and protect the environment.

Under new regulations, flimsy bags under 0.025 millimeters thick are banned and shopkeepers must charge for carrier bags. Those found breaking the law face fines and could have their goods confiscated.

Shoppers in downtown Beijing and in Internet chatrooms seemed largely sympathetic to the idea. China, which gets through three billion plastic bags a day, is increasingly aware of the damage to the environment caused by its breakneck growth.

"Sorry, I can't give you a plastic bag. It's illegal from today," said one young woman, Zhang Lihua, who was selling cosmetics in a department store in the capital.

China, which consumes 37 million barrels of crude oil each year to manufacture more than one trillion plastic bags, is following in the footsteps of countries such as Ireland, Rwanda and Bangladesh. Italy is due to introduce a ban by 2010.

"To protect the environment, they shouldn't provide plastic bags," said one Internet posting on sina.com. "As time goes on, people will get into the habit of carrying their own bags when they go shopping."

Sceptics say the fate of the initiative will depend on how diligent police and inspectors are in enforcing the law.

"Is there a ban on plastic bags?" asked a man in a cake shop. "I didn't know. Anyway, maybe it'll take effect next month. I'm sure no one is going to enforce that today."

Ultra-thin bags are the main target of the crackdown because they are typically used once and then thrown away, littering streets, fields and streams and creating what the Chinese call "white pollution".

Chen Wei, a seller of steamed bread buns in central Beijing, was still using ultra-thin bags on Sunday.

"When I've used them all up, I'll stop. Then my customers will have to bring their own bags, or I will charge them two mao ($0.03) or so for a bag," Chen said.

(Reporting by Alan Wheatley; Editing by Valerie Lee)

China struggles to enforce ban on plastic bags
Jane Macartney, The Times 2 Jun 08;

Strolling along a Beijing street, a young couple paused to buy a bag of fried pork dumplings. The stallholder picked up half a dozen in the filmiest of plastic bags, rolled a couple of steamed buns into another and popped the lot into yet another plastic bag.

It would be hard to tell that new nationwide limits on such packaging took effect on Sunday.

China is almost suffocating under plastic bags. Its 1.3 billion people use three billion bags every day. That’s about 1.6 million tonnes of the items each year, and the Government wants to reduce that to 1.1 million tonnes.

Increasingly aware of the rapid and widespread degradation of the environment in China’s headlong race to industrialisation and modernisation, Beijing is trying to reverse the damage.

But for a people who have, in a few brief years, ditched their string bags and have come to rely on the plastic bag whenever they go shopping, a complete ban would be impossible to enforce. Thus the Government has prohibited the ultra-thin bags of 0.025 mm in thickness that are ubiquitous when buying such foods as takeaway dumplings, while requiring shoppers to pay for sturdier ones.

While most Chinese say they welcome the move towards environmental protection, the Government has recognized the challenge involved. Retailers will face a fine of up to 10,000 yuan (£715) for providing shoppers with free bags — down from an initial plan by the Ministry of Commerce for a fine of 30,000 yuan.

Chen Wei, selling steamed buns from a stall in an alley in central Beijing, seemed unconcerned. “I am still using these ultra-thin plastic bags because I have some left. When I have used them all up then I guess I will stop. My customers will have to bring their own bags, or I will charge them two mao for a bag.” That’s no small sum when a steamed bun costs about six mao (0.04p).

Plastic bags have been blamed for filling up landfills, for choking marine life and for suffocating wild animals. One panda in the Beijing Zoo slowly starved and had to be put to sleep after eating food in a plastic bag thrown by a visitor into his pen.

The filmy bags, in orange and blue, are whipped by the wind across even the most remote plateaus of Tibet.

To satisfy demand, China uses 37 million dollars of ever more costly crude oil each year to churn out the bags.

French supermarket giant Carrefour has ordered cloth bags that it will sell for 4.9 yuan each. Wal-Mart China is to sell cloth bags from 1.9 yuan to 9.9 yuan each — depending on size and thickness.

In a Beijing department store, Zhang Lihua was selling cosmetics. “Sorry,” she told a shopper. “I can’t give you a plastic bag. It’s illegal from today.”

Sze Pang Cheung, communications director for Greenpeace China, wondered about the ability to enforce the rules beyond major cities. “China has had a poor record of enforcing its environmental law in the past — laws about pollution, the environmental impact assessment in factories. Many of the pieces of legislation are well-drafted, but the problem is enforcement.” China’s ambition is to join a small number of countries — from Ireland to Bangladesh — that are already implementing similar rules.

Said one man in a cake shop: “Is there a ban on plastic bags? I didn’t know that. Anyway, maybe it’ll take effect next month. No one is going to enforce it today.

China's plastic bag ban kicks in to mixed response
Reuters 2 Jun 08;

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's ban on free plastic bags drew a lukewarm response from some shoppers and store owners on Monday although some supermarkets across the country reported a 90 percent drop in bags consumed.

One day after the ban kicked off, authorities in Beijing fined a shop 10,000 yuan ($1,200) for "secretly using the ultra-thin plastic bags", the Beijing Evening News said.

The amount was the maximum stipulated by the law and aimed at deterring other businesses, it quoted officials as saying.

Under China's new anti-plastic bag laws, flimsy bags under 0.025 millimeters thick are banned and shopkeepers must charge for carrier bags. Those found breaking the law face fines and could have their goods confiscated.

Ultra-thin bags are the main target of the crackdown because they are typically used once and then thrown away, littering streets, fields and streams and creating what the Chinese call "white pollution".

China consumes 37 million barrels of crude oil each year to manufacture more than one trillion plastic bags. It is following in the footsteps of countries such as Ireland, Rwanda and Bangladesh to introduce a ban.

"The problem is a lot of people don't plan their supermarket trips beforehand, so they do not remember to bring bags from home," a supermarket cashier in Beijing told Reuters on Monday.

Supermarkets and large department stores across China have implemented the ban fairly well, with some even reporting a 90 percent drop in the number of plastic bags consumed, Chinese media reported. Many have handed out carrier bags made of recycled cloth to customers.

But the ban was largely ignored or unheard of among small-time wet market vendors, who said charging for the plastic bags would turn away many customers.

"My tofu is only worth 50 cents a piece. It will be very hard to sell if I have to charge 20 cents for the plastic bag," the Beijing Times quoted a vendor as saying.

(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Writing by Guo Shipeng; Editing by Valerie Lee)