An enormous expansion in biodegradable plastic creation in China is outperforming the nation’s capacity to debase the materials, as indicated by another report distributed by the foundation Greenpeace. China, the world’s biggest maker of plastic waste, presented boycotts recently on a few kinds of non-degradable single-use plastics, inciting makers to increase the creation of biodegradable adaptations. If the rush to produce biodegradable plastics continues, China’s e-commerce industry is on track to generate an estimated 5 million tonnes of biodegradable plastic waste per year by 2025
According to Greenpeace, 36 companies in China have planned or built new biodegradable plastic manufacturing facilities, adding production capacity of more than 4.4 million tonnes per year – a more than sevenfold increase in less than 12 months. “Switching from one type of plastic to another cannot solve the plastics pollution crisis that we’re facing,” said Greenpeace East Asia plastics researcher Dr Molly Zhongnan Jia. “Many biodegradable plastics require specific temperature and humidity conditions to break down, which are not found in nature. In the absence of controlled composting facilities, most biodegradable plastics end up in landfills, or worse, in rivers and the ocean.”
Chinese president Xi Jinping has in recent speeches stressed the importance of reducing plastic waste, but many major Chinese cities have little or no infrastructure in place to cope with the expansion of biodegradable plastics production. To reduce waste generation within the country, the government has imposed fines and also revamped solid waste collection with steps by waste segregation at the household level. Companies have been asked to ensure 50 per cent of their online packages and 20 per cent of food delivery packaging use biodegradable materials. One of the primary difficulties with biodegradable plastics all around the world is that they can’t be placed into normal family reusing or debased in-home fertilizing the soil receptacles – which means purchasers generally don’t have any course to get biodegradable bundling to the sorts of mechanical offices fit for handling it.
Greenpeace East Asia urges that corporations and the government create clear action plans to reduce overall plastics use, prioritize the development of reusable packaging systems, and ensure that producers are financially responsible for the waste that they create through extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes.
