A few days ago, the Ministry of Commerce publicly solicited opinions from the public on the "Administrative Measures for the Use and Reporting of Disposable Plastic Products (Draft for Solicitation of Comments)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures"). On the afternoon of August 2, relevant environmentalists and legal experts put forward suggestions at an online seminar hosted by the Political Research Office of the China Green Development Council.
On August 3, the upstream news reporter learned that the “plastic reduction and plastic picking” working group of the China Green Hair Association proposed at the meeting that the current amount of disposable cups (plastic cups, paper cups with plastic waterproof membranes) in China is huge. Pollution and waste are serious. Among them, "paper cups" are largely disposable products that contain plastic components and have a low recycling rate. It is recommended that disposable cups be included in the "Measures." In addition, legal experts suggest that the content of information regulation should be added, and the list of illegal activities should be published online and included in corporate credit information.
At the discussion meeting held by the China Green Development Council on the "Administrative Measures for the Use and Reporting of Disposable Plastic Products (Draft for Comment)", it was recommended that disposable cups be included in the "Measures." Picture source/photo courtesy of respondents
On July 16, the official website of the Ministry of Commerce publicly solicited opinions on the "Administrative Measures for the Use and Reporting of Disposable Plastic Products (Draft for Solicitation of Comments)". The Measures pointed out that if merchants on takeaway platforms charge consumers for disposable plastic products such as plastic lunch boxes, plastic tableware, biodegradable plastic straws, plastic shopping bags, etc., they should clearly mark the price according to the specifications and materials in accordance with the law, and display the price on the takeaway platform page and sales. The voucher separately lists the category, quantity, unit price and payment of the consumer's purchase of disposable plastic products.
The "Measures" require that the establishment of retail establishments, e-commerce platform enterprises, and takeaway enterprises shall report the use and recycling of disposable plastic products to the competent commercial department in accordance with these measures.
The "Measures" stated that a user evaluation mechanism should be established for consumers to evaluate whether the disposable plastic products provided by platform merchants meet the national plastic ban and limit regulations. The deadline for comments is August 15, 2021.
The China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (hereinafter referred to as the China Green Development Association), a national public welfare fundraising foundation, attaches great importance to this. On the afternoon of August 2, the Political Research Office of the China Green Development Council organized an online discussion meeting on this issue, and invited many experts to provide advice and suggestions.
Upstream news reporters noticed that at the seminar, Wang Huo, the head of the “Plastic Reduction and Plastic Picking” working group of the Green Hair Association, suggested on behalf of the working group that disposable cups (plastic cups, paper cups with plastic waterproof membranes) should be included in the "Measures." manage.
The working group believes that disposable cups (plastic cups, paper cups with plastic waterproof membranes) are used in my country, causing serious pollution and waste, and should be included in the Measures. It is particularly worth mentioning that the current so-called "paper cups" are largely disposable products that contain plastic components and have a low recycling rate.
The polyethylene polymer film used for impermeability in the paper cup is also plastic. According to CCTV's "Where are the paper coffee cups used up at the end of 2019?" Paper "cupware" environmental protection "tragedy"? According to the report, in the case of mass production and use of disposable paper cups, these plastic-containing paper cups are discarded because of the high cost of sorting. In fact, they are not widely recycled and eventually become garbage incineration. Therefore, to promote the reduction of disposable plastic products, disposable cups (plastic cups, paper cups with plastic waterproof membranes) should be included in the scope of the reporting system.
At the seminar, Cao Mingde, a law professor at China University of Political Science and Law, suggested that "green production and green consumption" should be added to the "legislative purpose". In addition, in terms of legal liability, Cao Mingde suggested tiered penalties, considering subjective faults, seriousness of violations, and penalties. At the same time, Cao Mingde suggested that the content of information regulation should be increased. For illegal activities, the list should be published online and included in the corporate credit information; at the same time, the rating of the company is a positive incentive, which is conducive to improving the company's social image.
Upstream news reporter Zhang Ying