Foamed Plastic Packaging Becomes a Scourge After the Plastic Restriction Order

[ppzhan abstract] Environmental pollution has become a matter of public concern, with particular attention paid to the recycling and reuse of waste. Expanded plastic — which cannot be recycled and is reused — has become the chief culprit behind white pollution, following in the wake of plastic bags.

On December 31, 2007, the General Office of the State Council issued a notice on restricting the production, sale and use of plastic shopping bags, popularly known as the "plastic bag restriction order." The rationale behind it was that while plastic shopping bags offer convenience to consumers, excessive use and inadequate recycling and disposal have also caused serious waste of energy and resources as well as environmental pollution.

More than four years after the "plastic bag restriction order" took effect, according to an official from the Department of Resource Conservation and Environmental Protection of the National Development and Reform Commission, the annual use of plastic shopping bags in major commodity retail outlets nationwide has fallen by more than 24 billion, with cumulative plastic consumption cut by 800,000 tons — equivalent to saving 4.8 million tons of oil, or one-eighth of the annual output of the Daqing Oilfield. This is extremely encouraging.

Yet one phenomenon deserves attention: the rapid growth of the express delivery industry has brought a fierce resurgence in the use of plastic products, and much of the packaging for fragile goods uses expanded plastic as cushioning material. As is well known, given the bulky volume of discarded foam plastic and the fact that waste sorting and recycling channels are not yet fully open, the pollution problem it brings cannot be underestimated. However, because expanded plastic is low in cost and easy to use, some online stores continue to use it.

In China, waste sorting and recycling still need time to develop, while the state attaches great importance to pollution control. It is therefore suggested that the circulation and use of logistics cushioning packaging materials be further regulated. More environmentally friendly alternatives have already appeared on the market, such as expanded polypropylene, honeycomb paperboard and molded pulp products, and there is an urgent need to establish a recycling mechanism for such cushioning packaging materials — for example, by adding cushioning packaging materials as a recycling category in waste collection, so that such eco-friendly materials can be vigorously promoted. At the same time, expanded plastic should be banned, and a reporting hotline should be set up at the relevant departments to minimize white pollution to the greatest extent possible.

— This article is reposted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-362024.html