Advice on "White Pollution" Countermeasures

With the rapid development of the national economy and the continuous improvement of the people’s living standards, the amount of waste generated in China is increasing day by day, especially the increase in the production of plastic packaging. While these plastic products have brought convenience to people's lives, they have also caused serious "white pollution" due to people's arbitrarily discarded, untimely recycling management, and the product's own degradation and rot.

Since the 1990s, the Beijing municipal government and people from all walks of life began to pay attention to the issue of "white pollution". In 1997, Beijing established a “recycling-based, alternative-substitutive, differential-differentiated, and comprehensive-governance” governance line. Based on the principle of “whoever pollutes and who sponsors it”, some companies have jointly established a recycling organization to make Beijing Municipal. The recycling rate of discarded foam tableware reached 60%. In January 1999, the former State Economic and Trade Commission issued the No. 6 Order, which eliminated the deadline for disposable foam plastic tableware before the end of 2000, and stopped the recycling work. However, due to serious flaws in the substitutes themselves, counterfeit and shoddy goods flooded the market, and they could not really achieve "green" packaging. According to the survey, the daily consumption of disposable fast food tableware in Beijing amounts to more than 2 million, including 20% ​​for foamed tableware, 20% for alternatives that meet the requirements of hygiene and environmental protection, and 60% for inferior tableware with quality and hygiene problems. Governance "white pollution" is facing a grim situation.

To promote the development of the circular economy in the capital and to govern the “white pollution” with the scientific concept of development, it is recommended that:

1. As the technology of biodegradable plastics is not yet mature, it is difficult to effectively solve the environmental pollution caused by its waste in the short term. Therefore, it should not be promoted and used.

2. According to test reports and test data from scientific communities in the world, China's health and epidemic prevention departments and product quality inspection departments, there is no toxic substance in foamed polystyrene, which is not harmful to humans as a food packaging material. At present, there is no In the case of an ideal alternative, the product can continue to be used as long as it is used scientifically for foam plastic tableware and its waste is effectively recycled.
3, through the economic leverage on disposable plastic bags and other appropriate fees to reduce people's misuse of various plastic products.

4. Drawing lessons from Shanghai's experience, formulating practical policies and regulations, while promoting the use of various green packaging materials and appropriately producing polystyrene food packaging materials, we must clarify the responsibilities of administrative departments and strengthen the recycling of various packaging wastes. Solve the "white pollution" unsupervised chaos.
5. Give full play to the role of industry associations and combine the fight against counterfeit products with the promotion of green products. Through active industrial policies, companies are guided to participate in recycling.

6. Based on the management experience of foreign plastic waste and the practice in China for many years, it is recommended that the relevant national authorities re-examine the current “white pollution” governance policy, formulate national laws and regulations for the control of plastic waste, and form “regulatory support, The operational mechanism of market action, scientific governance, and everyone's participation.