Shanghai issues plan to limit disposable plastic

Shanghai authorities issued an action plan on strengthening the management of plastic pollution on Monday, aiming to limit the production and consumption of plastic disposable products in next five years.

The plan was made by 10 related departments of the municipal government, who oversee areas such as commerce, environment, tourism and agriculture, and will start implementing the plan from October.

The plan targets mainly four kinds of plastics: plastic shopping bags in stores, disposable tableware in restaurants, plastic items in hotels, and plastic packaging bags in delivery.

By the end of this year, the action plan prohibits shopping malls, supermarkets, pharmacies and bookstores from offering customers disposable plastic bags, and the rules will be extended to farmer's markets as well by 2023.

In the catering sector, it prohibits the usage of disposable spoons, chopsticks, and plastic straws. It aims to reduce more than 30 percent of disposable cutlery used in restaurants and food deliveries by 2025.

The plan reiterated the previous rules on domestic waste that require hotels to stop providing disposable items such as toothbrushes, combs, razors, nail polishers and shoe wipers in rooms.

The postal offices around the city will stop using plastic bags by 2021 and stop using plastic tape by 2023.

The action plan also prohibits the production and sale of certain plastic products, which include plastic bags thinner than 0.025 millimeters, agricultural mulch film thinner than 0.01 millimeters, and cosmetics with micro plastic beads.

The action plan said government will promote the replacement of disposable plastic products with reusable substitutes, and will increase the support for companies in the recycling industry, such as the inclusion of recycled products into the list of government procurement.