OneWorld.net (U.S.)

OneWorld.net note: Consumers in China are embracing trendy "eco-friendly bags" and traditional woven baskets one month after the central government implemented a ban on plastic shopping bags in an effort to aid the environment and reduce spending on oil, the energy source used to make plastic packaging.

• The law, which went into effect on Jun. 1, banned the use of plastic bags under 0.025 millimeters thick. Store owners that break the law face a maximum fine of 10,000 Yuan or $1,200.
  
  
• A major source of pollution in China, plastic bags have been nicknamed "the white pollution." People in China use as many as 3 billion plastic bags a day and throw away more than 3 million tons of them every year.
  
  
• "Plastic bags consume a huge quantity of oil, an energy source that in recent months has hovered at more than $100 per barrel on international markets. Experts estimate that China refines nearly 5 million tons (37 million barrels) of crude oil each year, or one-third of its imported oil, to make plastics used for packaging," writes the Worldwatch Institute, an environmental think tank.

China Watch: Plastic Bag Ban Trumps Market and Consumer Efforts

From: Worldwatch Institute

China's recent plastic bag ban has been immediately accepted byconsumers. In a country where billions of plastic bags are used eachday, the government's top-down policy move will likely benefit thecountry's environment and energy security well before market forces orconsumer-led efforts are able to achieve similar impact.

The ban prohibits shops, supermarkets, and sales outlets from handingout free plastic bags and bans the production, sale, and use ofultra-thin plastic bags under 0.025 millimeters thick. It took effectnationwide on June 1.

Plastic bags, a seemingly minor commodity, have mobilized four powerfulgovernment departments in China. The State Council, China's cabinet,issued the bag ban earlier this year, and in May, shortly before itsimplementation, three other departments stepped in and imposed anauxiliary ruling to enforce the directive. The Ministry of Commerce,National Development and Reform Commission, and State Administrationfor Industry and Commerce set forth detailed stipulations onimplementation and enforcement in the ruling, known as Administrative Measures for the Paid Use of Plastic Bags at Commodity Retailing Places.

China's central government dealt this heavy blow to plastic bags out ofconcern for the environment and a desire for greater energy savings.People in China use up to 3 billion plastic bags daily and dispose of more than 3 million tons of them annually. Most ofthe carriers end up in unofficial dumping sites, landfills, or theenvironment. Urban dumping centers and open fields alongside railwaysand expressways are littered with the discarded bags, mostly whitishultra-thin varieties. Such scenes have generated a special term inChina: "the white pollution."

Plastic bags consume a huge quantity of oil, an energy source that inrecent months has hovered at more than $100 per barrel on internationalmarkets. Experts estimate that China refines nearly 5 million tons (37 million barrels)of crude oil each year, or one-third of its imported oil, to makeplastics used for packaging.

The twin pressures of environment protection and energy security havegalvanized China's policymakers to take a strong stance, with animmediate initial result. Reports note that use of plastic bags insupermarkets in southern Guangzou City has dropped by nearly half since June 1, and some supermarkets in Beijing use as few as one-tenth the number of bags as before the ban.

Shoppers have embraced the ban without significant complaint, despitesacrificing some degree of shopping convenience. Older generations havereminiscently turned back to the woven baskets or plain cloth bags theyused before plastic alternatives entered the Chinese market in the1980s. Younger people are busy checking out online shops for morefashionable "eco-friendly" bags. Those who do pay for plastic bags aretrying to buy as few as possible, foregoing the long-engrainedperspective of "better more than fewer" prevalent before the ban.

China's plastic bag policy is instilling a proactive attitude towardenergy savings and environmental protection in a country where publicenvironmental awareness is chronically weak. Price is still theparamount factor guiding people's purchases nationwide, and theconsumer "green" movement remains a novel phenomenon, often regarded asa pet project of idealistic environmentalists.

The consumer mentality takes time to change. But as pressures on theenvironment and natural resources continue to rise, it is better tohave smart government policies that guide consumer habits, rather thanwaiting for the market to force these changes. Simply relying on themarket and on individual behavior may bring too little too late.

Click here to learn more about China's environmental policies from the Worldwatch Institute.