{"id":46066,"date":"2020-12-17T03:00:28","date_gmt":"2020-12-17T02:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=46066"},"modified":"2020-12-17T03:01:04","modified_gmt":"2020-12-17T02:01:04","slug":"biodegradables-will-not-solve-chinas-plastics-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/press-release\/46066\/biodegradables-will-not-solve-chinas-plastics-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Biodegradables will not solve China\u2019s plastics crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Beijing, China – Increased production of biodegradable plastics will not solve China\u2019s plastics pollution crisis, a new report from Greenpeace East Asia<\/a> shows. If the rush to produce biodegradable plastics continues, China\u2019s e-commerce industry is on track to generate an estimated 5 million tonnes of biodegradable plastic waste per year by 2025 [1], the report reveals.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cSwitching from one type of plastic to another cannot solve the plastics pollution crisis that we\u2019re facing,\u201d said Greenpeace East Asia plastics researcher Dr. Molly Zhongnan Jia. \u201cMany 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

The term \u201cbiodegradable plastic\u201d can be misleading. The majority of biodegradable plastics only degrade<\/a> within six months in controlled compost facilities<\/a> at temperatures as high as 50 degrees Celsius and carefully managed humidity conditions<\/a>. China is home to few<\/a> such facilities. Under typical conditions such as landfill, biodegradable plastics can remain intact for much longer than six months [2].

China\u2019s biodegradable plastics industry has seen explosive growth in recent years, driven by legislation designed to reduce the volume of plastic waste. In January 2020, China\u2019s government banned<\/a> several types of single-use plastics, effective in major cities by the end of 2020 and nationwide by 2025. Notably, \u201cdegradable plastics\u201d are exempt from the single-use plastics ban.

As of this year, 36 companies have planned or constructed<\/a> new biodegradable plastic manufacturing facilities in China, with an added production capacity of more than 4.4 million tonnes, an increase of sevenfold in less than 12 months.

\u201cThis \u2018biodegradables rush\u2019 has to stop,\u201d said Dr. Jia. \u201cWe need to take a cautious look at the effect and potential risks of mainstreaming these materials, and make sure we invest in solutions that actually reduce plastic waste. Reusable packaging systems and a reduction in overall plastic use are much more promising strategies to keep plastic out of landfills and the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace East Asia urges that corporations and the government create clear action plans to reduce overall plastics use, prioritise the development of reusable packaging systems, and ensure that producers are financially responsible for the waste that they create through extended producer responsibility (EPR)<\/a> schemes.

ENDS<\/strong>

Notes:<\/p>\n\n

Full report (in English), here.<\/a>
Media briefing (in English), here<\/a>.

<\/strong>[1] China\u2019s State Post Bureau projects the growth rate<\/a> for online delivery at 27.6% per year. Based on 2019 fieldwork, Greenpeace East Asia estimates that<\/a> 9.05% of online delivery packaging is made of plastic. According to the 2017 policy, \u201cGuiding Opinions on Coordinating the Promotion of Green Packaging in the Express Industry<\/a>,\u201d 50% of plastics used in online delivery must be biodegradable by 2020. The 2020 policy \u201cOpinions of the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Ecological Environment on Further Strengthening the Treatment of Plastic Pollution<\/a>\u201d requires the complete elimination of non-degradable plastics in online delivery by 2025. Greenpeace East Asia\u2019s calculation assumes no reduction in overall plastics use and that conventional plastics used in online delivery are replaced by biodegradable plastics. <\/p>\n\n

[2] Vaverkov\u00e1, M. D. and Adamcov\u00e1, D. \u201cDegradation of Biodegradable\/Degradable Plastics in Municipal Solid-Waste Landfill.\u201d Polish Journal of Environmental Studies, vol. 23, no. 4, 2014, pp. 1071\u20131078.

Contacts:<\/p>\n\n

Erin Newport, Communications Officer, Greenpeace East Asia: erin.newport@greenpeace.org<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace International Press Desk: pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org, +31 (0) 20 718 2470 (available 24 hours)<\/p>\n\n

For the latest Greenpeace International press releases, please follow us on twitter @greenpeacepress<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If the rush to produce biodegradable plastics continues, China\u2019s e-commerce industry is on track to generate an estimated 5 million tonnes of biodegradable plastic waste per year by 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":46076,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_planet4_optimize_post_is_variant":false,"_planet4_optimize_experiment_name":"","_planet4_optimize_variant_name":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"not set","p4_local_project":"not set","p4_basket_name":"not set","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[67],"p4-page-type":[98],"class_list":["post-46066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-about","tag-consumption","p4-page-type-press-release"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46066"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46106,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46066\/revisions\/46106"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46066"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=46066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}