As an important basic material, plastic is widely used in all aspects of economic and social production and life. It not only brings many conveniences, but also brings challenges to environmental governance. At present, China has achieved preliminary results in plastic pollution control. Recently, the national development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of ecological environment issued the action plan for plastic pollution control during the 14th five year plan, which further improved the whole chain management system of plastic pollution, refined the deployment of reducing the source of plastic use, cleaning, recycling, recycling and scientific disposal of plastic waste, and promoted the continuous deepening of plastic pollution control.

Recently, the national development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of ecological environment issued the action plan for plastic pollution control during the 14th five year plan (hereinafter referred to as the plan). According to the plan, by 2025, the plastic pollution control mechanism will operate more effectively, local, departmental and enterprise responsibilities will be effectively implemented, and the whole chain of plastic products production, circulation, consumption, recycling and end disposal will achieve more remarkable results. What changes will the plan bring to residents' living consumption and enterprises' production services?

Source reduction: greatly reduce the unreasonable use of disposable plastic products

Wangyonggang, Secretary General of the recycled plastics branch of the China Materials Recycling Association, said that China has become a big country in the production and consumption of plastic raw materials and products. In 2020, China's plastic output was more than 100 million tons, and the output of plastic products above Designated Size exceeded 76 million tons.

Plastic itself is not a pollutant, but plastic waste leaked into the soil, water and other natural environment and is difficult to degrade, which will bring visual pollution, soil damage, micro plastic and other environmental hazards. A report of the United Nations Environment Programme in 2018 showed that of the 9 billion tons of plastic products produced worldwide, only 9% were recycled, about 12% were incinerated, and the remaining 79% were eventually deposited in landfills or into the natural environment.

"How to deal with the increasingly serious leakage of plastic waste into the environment has become a serious issue that countries must face." Said wangxuejun, a professor at the school of city and environment, Peking University.

Since the "opinions on further strengthening plastic pollution control" was printed and distributed for more than a year, plastic pollution control has achieved preliminary results, but it also faces many difficulties and challenges, which need to further improve policies and systematic promotion.

According to the relevant responsible comrades of the national development and Reform Commission, the "plan" published this time further improved the whole chain management system of plastic pollution, further refined the deployment of plastic source reduction, plastic waste cleaning, recycling, recycling, scientific disposal, etc., further compacted the responsibilities of departments and local governments, and promoted plastic pollution control to achieve greater results during the "14th five year plan" period.

In terms of source reduction, the plan proposes to prohibit the production of some products harmful to the environment and human health, such as ultra-thin plastic shopping bags with a thickness of less than 0.025 mm, polyethylene agricultural mulch with a thickness of less than 0.01 mm, and daily chemical products containing plastic beads. The unreasonable use of disposable plastic products in key areas such as commodity retail, e-commerce, takeout, express delivery, accommodation and so on has been greatly reduced. E-commerce express mail has basically achieved no secondary packaging, and the application scale of recyclable express packaging has reached 10million.

"These disposable plastic products are widely used, low in value and difficult to collect, which have become the difficulties and pain points of plastic pollution control, and their production and use must be reduced from the source." Zhang Deyuan, an associate researcher at the Institute of structural reform of the Macroeconomic Research Institute of the national development and Reform Commission, said.

Recycling and disposal: at present, nearly 19million tons of various plastics are recycled every year in China

In terms of recycling and disposal, the plan requires that cities at and above the prefecture level basically establish domestic waste classification, collection, transportation and treatment systems according to local conditions, and the collection and transportation efficiency of plastic waste is greatly improved; The incineration capacity of urban domestic waste in China has reached about 800000 tons / day, and the direct landfill of plastic waste has been greatly reduced; The recovery rate of agricultural film reached 85%, and the residue of plastic film in the country achieved zero growth.

"Another important link in the whole chain management of plastic pollution is to strengthen the recycling of waste plastics and turn 'garbage' into renewable resources." Zhang Deyuan said that according to statistics, at present, China recycles nearly 19million tons of all kinds of plastics every year. While providing high-quality industrial raw materials, it can reduce sewage discharge by about 45% and energy consumption by 60% - 70% compared with the use of raw resources.

The huge consumption of plastic has brought a lot of plastic waste, but not all plastic waste will cause pollution problems, and the vast majority of plastic materials are renewable. Wang Yonggang introduced that vigorously developing the renewable plastic industry, building a scientific and accurate plastic waste management system, reasonably controlling plastic waste, digesting disposal pressure, and improving the proportion of resource utilization can not only effectively solve the problem of plastic pollution, but also be of great significance to ensuring China's energy security and helping to achieve the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutralization.

Wang Yonggang analyzed that to complete the main task of "accelerating the standardized recycling and disposal of plastic waste" proposed in the plan, efforts should be made from strengthening the standardized recycling and transportation of plastic waste, establishing and improving the Rural plastic waste collection, transportation and disposal system, increasing the recycling of plastic waste, and improving the level of harmless disposal of plastic waste.

Clean up and remediation: it is required that the historical open-air plastic garbage in key water areas, key scenic spots and rural areas should be basically cleared

Disposable plastic waste is small in size and light in weight. If it is discarded at will, it is very easy to cause "white pollution" in rivers, lakes, seas, fields and scenic spots. In order to make up for the shortcomings of plastic waste collection and disposal, the plan requires that the historical open-air plastic waste in key water areas, key tourist attractions and rural areas be basically cleared.

"To this end, the plan has targeted the disposal and remediation of plastic waste in rivers, lakes and seas, scenic spots and rural areas." The relevant person in charge of the national development and Reform Commission said. Carry out special cleaning of plastic waste within the management scope of rivers, lakes and reservoirs, establish a regular cleaning mechanism, and strive to basically clear the plastic waste in the open air in key waters; Carry out special cleaning of plastic waste in bays, estuaries, beaches and other areas, promote coastal cities and counties to establish a long-term mechanism for marine plastic waste cleaning, and keep key coastal areas free of obvious plastic waste; Carry out the regular cleaning of domestic garbage in tourist attractions, strengthen the education and guidance of tourists, stop the random dumping of plastic garbage, and realize the clearing of all open-air plastic garbage in Grade A and above tourist attractions; We will carry out the cleaning and renovation of Rural plastic waste. In combination with the renovation and improvement of rural human settlements, we will regularly clean up plastic waste in areas such as front and back of houses, ponds and ditches, and fields, and promote the basic clearing of open-air plastic waste left over by the history of the village.

"In order to further consolidate the responsibilities of all parties, the plan defines the responsible departments for the 37 specific tasks deployed one by one, and makes it clear that local people's governments at all levels are responsible for the plastic pollution control work within their administrative regions. It is necessary to improve the working mechanism, clarify the division of responsibilities, and pay close attention to the organization and implementation." According to the relevant person in charge of the national development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of ecological environment and the national development and Reform Commission will continue to organize and carry out the annual joint special action for plastic pollution control, bring the relevant outstanding problems found in the joint special action into the scope of the central ecological and environmental protection supervision, and further tighten the compaction department and local responsibilities.