China Environmental Law

Global Village recently conducted a survey in Beijing and discovered that

• nearly 96 percent of all Beijing open food markets continue providing ultra-thin plastic bags and
• nearly 85 percent offer plastic bags to customers free of charge, which is against the law.

It is certainly illegal for anyone to use (or produce for that matter) ultra-thin (less than 0.025mm in thickness) plastic bags.  The regulation is less clear as to whether it is illegal for “open food markets” to give away plastic bags which meet the thickness requirements.

It is less clear that it is illegal to give away conforming plastic bags if they are used to carry unpackaged raw or cooked food, and possibly packed frozen foods.  As we noted in a prior post on China’s plastic bag ban several news media at the time of the institution of the ban noted (here and here) that

The regulation does not apply to plastic packaging for the hygiene and safety of products such as food and cooked food.

and

In consideration of food safety and sanitation, bags which are used to pack food, such as raw meat and noodles, are still free.

I can understand this exception in a way.  Who wants to put raw meat or a fish in a cloth shopping bag?  On the other hand, I wouldn’t hesitate to put bananas in a cloth bag.  The regulation could set forth a very detailed rule as to what foods can and cannot come with free plastic bags or develop a standard to apply, but either approach appears rather cumbersome and not very amenable to easy enforcement at the open food market.  I think the focus needs to be on shutting down the manufacturers of ultra-thin bags, and coming up with alternatives to plastic bags in the food situation-waxed paper may work in some circumstances, but I don’t know if the production of the wax and paper is any less damaging to the environment than the ultra-thin plastic bag.

The good news is that “[n]early 93 percent of surveyed supermarkets demand consumers to pay for standard plastic bags.”  Charging for bags is clearly called for in these instances since at the supermarket checkout counter the customer is likely to have pre-packaged food items or, a piece of chicken already in its own plastic bag or other packaging from the meat counter.