https://www.ndrc.gov.cn/xxgk/zcfb/tz/202001/t20200119_1219275.html
No.: NDRC MEE 〔2020〕80
Provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central leadership, ministries and subordinate organizations under the State Council:
Plastics is widely used in work and life as a primary material. Irregular manufacturing and use of plastic products and improper disposal of plastic waste lead to energy waste and environmental pollution, thus creating a bigger environmental burden. To actively deal with plastic waste helps with the people’s health and contributes to the ecological civilization and high-quality development in China. The following opinions are presented to implement the policies by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council, to enhance plastic waste management, and to set up a long-term management mechanism.
I. Overall Requirements
(1) Guiding thinking. Guided by Xi Jinping’s thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics in a new era, in an effort to implement the policies laid down at the19th Chinese Communist Party Congress and its 2nd, 3rd, and 4th plenary sessions, we must put the people in the center and establish a new thinking on development. Manufacturing, sales, and use of certain plastic products, therefore, must be banned or restricted. Plastic waste recycling must be standardized. A full regime of manufacturing, distribution, use, and recycling of plastic products shall be established so as to effectively manage plastic pollution and build a beautiful China.
(2) Basic principles
Focus on the priorities and steadily move forward the work. Enhance management of the source of the waste. Focus on the use of plastic products as a key priority. Categorize strong concerns by the public and develop respective management measures. Comprehensively consider local and sector conditions to define proper implementations. Actively and steadily promote plastic waste management.
Use innovation and technology to support growth. Direct the industry to follow the recycling, degradable path. Develop and promote green and affordable quality plastic products to replace old ones. Cultivate new business models that promotes standardized recycling work and reduces plastic pollution.
Invite participants of different background to achieve collective social governance. The plastic business shall be the first responsible person. The government shall enhance oversight and regulation while providing better industry guidance and helping build social consensus. A collective social governance model shall be established with participation by government, business, industry association, and the general public.
(3) Key targets. By 2020, manufacturing, sales, and use of certain plastic products shall be banned first in certain regions and sectors. By 2022, the use of disposable plastic products shall be significantly reduced while alternative products are promoted and significantly more recycled plastic waste is turned into resources or energy sources. In sectors where plastic pollution concerns are big such as e-commerce, delivery service, food delivery, and other emerging sectors, a range of replicable green logistics models are established that can be promoted to reduce plastics use. By 2025, the regime to regulate the manufacturing, distribution, consumption, and recycling of plastic products is basically set up. A governance model with the participation by parties of different background is established. Alternative product development and application grows further. Plastic waste landfill rate in key cities is significantly lowered. Plastic waste is effectively under control.
II. Ban and restrict the manufacturing, sales, and use of certain plastic products
(4) Plastic products whose manufacturing and sales are banned. Super thin plastic bags (thinner less than 0.025mm) and polyethylene agricultural land film (thinner than 0.01mm) are forbidden to be manufactured or sold. Medical waste is not allowed to be raw materials for manufacturing plastic products. Plastic waste imports are completely banned. By end 2020, the manufacturing and sales of disposable foam plastic dinnerware and plastic cotton swab shall be banned. The manufacturing of daily-use chemical products that contain tiny plastic beads shall be banned. By end 2022, the sales of daily-use chemical products that contain tiny plastic beads shall be banned.
(5) Plastic products whose use is banned or restricted
1. Non-degradable plastic bags. By end 2020, malls, supermarkets, pharmacies, bookstores, food delivery service providers, and all kinds of events in built-up areas of municipalities under direct leadership of the central government, province capitals, cities with separate planning shall not use non-degradable plastic bags, and produce markets in such areas shall standardize and restrict the use of non-degradable plastic bags. By end 2022, the ban and restriction shall be extended to cover all built-up areas in prefectures and coastal counties. By 2025, the produce markets in such areas shall not use non-degradable plastic bags. While conditions allow it, produce markets located in urban-rural fringe areas, townships, and rural areas shall ban the use of non-degradable plastic bags.
2. Disposable plastic dinnerware. By end 2020, non-degradable disposable plastic straw shall be banned in all restaurants and catering business across the country. Non-degradable disposable plastic dinnerware shall be banned in built-up areas and tourist spots in all prefectures across the country. By end 2022, non-degradable disposable plastic dinnerware shall be banned in all restaurants in built-up areas and tourist spots in counties across the country. By 2025, the use intensity of non-degradable disposable plastic dinnerware in restaurants and food delivery service in prefectures across country shall be reduced by 30%.
3. Disposable plastic products at hotels and restaurants. By end 2022, star hotels across the country shall not provide disposable plastic products without the customer’s request. Kiosks can be set up for the customer to buy such products, or refill service can be provided. By end 2025, such policy shall be extended to cover all hotels and homestays.
4. Plastic packaging used for delivery service. By end 2022, postal delivery service providers in Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong shall ban the use of non-degradable plastic bags and disposable plastic knit bags, and reduce the use of non-degradable plastic bands. By end 2025, the use of non-degradable plastic bags, plastic bands, and disposable plastic knit bags shall be banned across postal service in China.
III. Promotion of alternative products and business models
(6) Promotion of alternative products. Promote the use of green cloth or paper bags or shopping bags of non-plastic and degradable make in malls, supermarkets, pharmacies, and bookstores. Encourage the setup of kiosks and smart distribution equipment to allocate degradable bags so as to offer more convenience for people’s lives. Promote the use of degradable films and bags for live and fresh products. Establish centralized procurement and sales mechanisms in produce markets to promote the use of degradable bags. In restaurants and food delivery service business, promote the use of straw-coated food boxes and other bio-based products as well as degradable alternatives that meet quality and safety standards for food products. In key areas where agricultural films are used, promote degradable earth films by integrating large-scale agricultural upgrade technologies.
(7) Cultivate new business models. Require businesses to take on their green management responsibility and set up green supply chains. E-commerce and food delivery businesses shall enhance oversight on companies that operate on their platforms by developing replacement plans to retire disposable plastic products and publishing results to the public. In such key areas as franchise malls, large-scale produce markets, logistics and warehousing, and e-commerce, encourage companies to adopt a recycling business model by leasing equipment, financing for equipment acquisition, and using foldable equipment. Encourage companies to adopt shareholder cooperation and investment methods to set up cross-platform packaging recycling mechanisms. Encourage companies to adopt integrated packaging for goods and logistics and set up a recycling mechanism for logistics tools.
(8) Enhance supply of green products. Plastic product manufacturers must strictly comply with applicable laws and regulations when manufacturing compliant plastic products that do not contain chemicals harmful to the human body or the environment. Encourage green design to enhance safety and recycling of plastic products. Actively adopt new green functional materials and use more renewable plastic materials that meet quality standards. Enhance alternative product development to support the use of recycling, re-use, and degradable materials. Reduce costs of application. Effectively supply more green products.
IV. Standardize plastic waste recycling and disposal
(9) Enhance effort for plastic waste recycling and disposal. Working together with the waste categorization campaign, plastic and other waste management shall be enhanced. No waste shall be disposed or thrown away so as to result in pollution. In venues such as office buildings, airports, transportation terminals, and harbors where there are high volumes of plastic waste, more equipment shall be used to ensure more frequent waste transportation. Encourage e-commerce, food delivery business, environmental hygiene organizations, and recycling actors to work together by setting up recycling equipment in key areas for delivery package and dinnerware recycling. Establish and improve the recycling system for waste agricultural films. Standardize the process for waste fishing nets and tools disposal.
(10) Promote the transition from plastic waste to resources and energy sources. Promote standardized, centralized, and industrial processes to turn plastic waste into resources. Such projects shall gather in resource recycling parks in an effort to enhance waste management. When it comes to plastic waste that involves high sorting cost and is not suited for turning into resources, waste burning and power plants shall improve management and operations in an effort to meet pollution standards and minimize landfill of plastic waste.
(11) Carry out the plastic waste rectification campaign. Accelerate the rectification campaign process to address irregular household garbage collection sites. The focus areas include urban-rural fringe areas, environmentally vulnerable areas, areas along roads and rivers, and pits and pools, where household garbage is usually left over and plastic pollution is serious. Rectification work shall be carried out along rivers, within lakes and harbors, and by the beaches. Carry out rectification work in agricultural fields where earth films and residues of fertilizer bags are left over in an effort to reduce residue plastic films in the fields.
V. Improve the support system
(12) Establish and improve legal framework and standards. Promote revision of relevant legislation and regulations in an effort to include plastic waste management into the national legal framework. Renew the ban and restriction list of plastic products in time. Develop the green design guidelines for plastic products. Improve renewable plastics quality control standards and regulate renewable use. Develop and refine degradable materials and products standards and labeling standards. Establish and refine green management and evaluation mechanisms in e-commerce, delivery, and other emerging sectors. Carry out research into packaging level appropriateness assessment targeting products that have experienced serious packaging problems. Propose a differentiated approach to different products. The disposable plastic product ban shall be part of the evaluation process of tourist spots and star hotels. Improve the environmental protection standards governing how plastic waste can be turned into resources or energy sources. Explore the establishment of disclosure mechanism governing the use of plastic materials and the manufacturing and sales of plastic products. Explore the establishment of a framework for governing business legal person goodwill and penalizing those who break faith. Anyone who fails to comply with shall be put into record.
(13) Improve policy support. Provide bigger support for green packaging research, green logistics and professional smart recycling operations. Implement relevant financial support measures while increasing government procurement volumes of compliant green products. Build new green supply chains. Adopt new products and business models. Set up pilots to recycle waste agricultural films. All regions must support professional recycling equipment adoption, so as to remove any barriers that impede the adoption of such equipment in living quarters, subway stations, transportation terminals, office buildings, and other public places. Encourage all regions to use economic measures to promote the replacement and reduction of disposable plastic products. Public organizations shall take the lead in stopping the use of non-degradable disposable plastic products.
(14) Improve technology support. Carry out full lifecycle environment risk assessment on different categories of plastic products. Enhance research into pollution monitoring, prevention, and policy measures related to plastic waste and tiny plastic particles in rivers, lakes, and oceans. Carry out ecology and environment impact research as well as human health risk assessment. Promote recycling and degradable material research and work to put research results in application so as to improve the quality of replacement materials and products. Focus on safety of degradable materials and economics of scales related to applications. Carry out feasibility research and product selection related to degradable earth films.
(15) Enhance oversight and enforcement. Enhance daily management and oversight. Strictly implement policies to ban and restrict the manufacturing, sales, and use certain plastic products. Crack down on any illegal activities that manufacture banned plastic products or apply fake or false labels to plastic products. Carry out ecology and environment enforcement work to enhance recycling, reuse and disposal of plastic waste. Penalize any illegal waste discharge. Continue to promote waste plastic processing and industry rectification. When discovering illegal activities in daily work, industry management departments shall provide the information to relevant enforcement authorities for further action. Any responsible party, when found in breach of work duty, shall be dealt with according to law. To ensure rectification, the party in breach of work duty will be disclosed and will be admonished by relevant authorities.
VI. Improve organizational work and implementation
(16) Improve organizational work and leadership. All regions and departments must attach great importance to plastic waste management. Work shall be well organized and implemented. NDRC and MEE will work with relevant departments to set up work mechanisms as the guide the implementation and ensure coordination. Work progress shall be summarized and analyzed on a timely basis. Key issues shall be reported to the Communist Central Committee and the State Council. MEE shall work with relevant departments to carry out special operations in an effort to enhance monitoring and oversight of waste management progress. Key issues shall be part of central ecology and environment oversight for stricter evaluation and accountability. All levels of local government must develop implementation plans as suit local conditions and refine detailed implementation measures.
(17) Enhance communication and guidance. Enhance communication on plastic waste management. Educate the public on reducing the use of disposable plastic products and participating in sorting out waste. The general public shall be encouraged to resist over-packaging of goods. Use newspapers, TV, radio, and new media to share waste management results and success stories. Encourage industry associations, business groups, and charity organizations to conduct seminars and volunteer work in an effort to form social consensus and create an overall positive atmosphere for social governance.
National Development and Reform Commission
Ministry of Ecology and Environment
16 January 2020