As the resumed session of the fifth United Nations Environment Conference is approaching, it is urgent to establish the global Convention on plastic pollution. In February, Sweden and India continued to increase the ban on plastics. Greece will pay a high fine to the EU this year because of its poor performance in recycling plastics.
Greece fined 127 million euros by the EU
As a member of the European Commission, Greece has performed poorly in plastic recycling. According to the China Greece times, a report released by the Greek think tank economic and Industrial Research Foundation shows that about 43000 tons of plastic packaging in Greece are neither buried nor recycled every year. To this end, Greece will pay a fine of 127 million euros to the EU this year.
New deal on plastic reduction in Sweden: halve disposable plastic tableware within four years
The Swedish government announced the latest plastic reduction policy on February 21 local time to reduce the impact of plastics on the environment and increase green jobs by increasing regulations on recycling and reuse of plastics.
Annika strandhll, Swedish Minister of climate and environment, introduced Sweden's first plastic treatment action plan at a press conference, hoping to make 30% of newly manufactured plastic packaging recyclable by 2030; By 2026, the consumption of disposable plastic cups and lunch boxes will be 50% lower than that in 2022.
Strandhall mentioned that one of the measures to achieve this goal is that from January 2024, larger companies or units must provide recyclable cups or lunch boxes when selling food or drinks.
At the same time, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency will also conduct an investigation to analyze and understand the use of plastics by Swedes and put forward suggestions so that the right types of plastics can be used in the right places, reduce the problems of subsequent treatment of plastics and let plastic products enter the circular economy system.
The Swedish government said that the plan for the sustainable use of plastics is very important for Sweden to achieve the 2045 carbon free emission target.
Since January 1st this year, Sweden has banned the sale of disposable tableware including plastic foam (Bao Lilong) tableware with a plastic content of more than 15%.
Faced with such problems, scientists advocate more stringent solutions such as limiting production.
Join the "group address book" of China replas2022 (spring) plastic recycling and Recycling Conference to pay attention to the latest policy trends
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India has implemented a ban on disposable plastics since July 1
On February 4 local time, the central pollution prevention and Control Department of India issued a notice to inform some disposable plastic products manufacturers, dealers, retailers, e-commerce companies and shopping malls to ensure zero inventory of contraband products before June 30.
India's central Pollution Control Commission said that India would ban some disposable plastic products from July 1 this year.
"We have issued instructions to the state pollution control commission, almost all e-commerce websites, disposable plastic sellers and users, and the Central Committee of indirect taxes and customs that there is no disposable plastic in the notice on August 12, 2021 and should be sold, stored or used," said a board official who declined to be named. "Several meetings and discussions have been held on the implementation of the ban, so we hope all stakeholders will abide by it."
Prohibited plastic items include earplugs, flags, candy and ice cream sticks, decorative hot glue, PVC banners with a thickness of less than 100 microns, blenders, packaging films, cups, glasses and tableware.
In addition, from December 31, plastic handbags with a thickness of less than 120 microns shall not be used.
According to the fact sheet issued by the Ministry of environment and the Institute of energy and resources (terfi), a think-tank, about 43% of plastics are used for packaging, most of which are disposable. India's per capita use of plastic is about 9.7 kg, mainly packaging materials, estimated by the central pollution agency.
There will be about 12 million tons of plastic waste landfill and waste management by 2050.
On July 29 last year, federal pollution supervisors instructed all state pollution control committees to conduct a quarterly assessment of the elimination of disposable plastics within their jurisdiction, as well as details of production capacity and alternatives.
However, according to the latest instructions issued earlier this month, the information submitted by the States is incomplete. The Board met with state counterparts on January 21 to assess the situation, and then developed an action plan to phase out some plastic items.
It has instructed the National Committee to revoke or modify the licenses and registrations issued to disposable plastic manufacturers to ensure that they achieve zero inventory by July 1. Moreover, the national pollution commission must also instruct raw material manufacturers and e-commerce companies to stop supplying and selling prohibited goods.
They must also issue announcements within their jurisdiction and issue new business licenses to major retailers, retailers, sellers and commercial institutions so that they will not hoard or use prohibited items. If the ban is violated, states are also required to develop local rules to collect compensation in accordance with central guidelines.
At present, the global production of plastics has doubled since 2000, reaching 367 million tons, but the recovery is less than 10%. The total weight of plastics on earth is four times that of all living animals.
