Plastic ban taps green business

He said the company plans on expanding its yearly production capacity to 5,000 tons. Currently, the province has 14 producers of polylactic acid plastic.

Song said delegations from other provinces including Yunnan and Hainan have approached Jilin to learn about the ban.

But the ban has also encountered enforcement obstacles.

Zhao Xu, vice-head of the management committee of Changchun economic development zone, has been investigating the ban's enforcement and observing the development of the polylactic acid industry.

"The key problem is that small shops and street vendors in the open market, who are often outside government supervision, have mostly failed to switch their plastic bags."

"Some stores are still using traditional plastic bags by mixing them with the green ones due to large inventory," he said. "The industrial chain and marketing of green plastic bags also need improvement."

"We will work to improve people's awareness of the ban while strengthening its enforcement. We aim to replace all plastic bags used in big supermarkets and stores with biodegradable ones by the end of this year, and will also try to enhance supervision over small shops and vendors," said Song.