Guide
Plastic brings many conveniences to human life, but also seriously endangers the environment, economy and human health, and human beings urgently need to get rid of the abuse and dependence on plastics. To address the plastic crisis, countries need to act together to ban the production and use of non-essential single-use plastics in favor of renewable alternatives; Recycling plastic products to promote plastic recycling; Give play to the role of the market, introduce and expand the extended responsibility system of producers, and encourage enterprises to participate in promoting technological change.
By Erik Solheim, co-chair of the Belt and Road International Institute for Green Development and former Executive Director of UN Environment
In the 50s of the 20th century, plastic entered the daily life of American people on a large scale. At the time, plastic was seen as a "miracle material": it could help people better preserve food, reduce the weight of cars and airplanes, and prevent harmful bacteria from growing. However, from past experience, whenever humans find something useful, they gradually become dependent on it. In this way, plastic began to be overused.
Why do humans need to wean themselves off plastic? There are three main reasons:
First of all, plastic is difficult to degrade in nature, which is causing environmental disasters. Recently, a whale died in Thailand and spat out a plastic bag before dying. When seabirds dive underwater, they mistake plastic for shellfish, feed their young with this toxic plastic, and die tragically. Things like this also happen to species such as camels, cows and turtles.
Second, single-use plastics can also cause additional economic disasters. If the sea is full of plastic waste, who wants to swim on vacation in Hainan, Sri Lanka or Bali, Indonesia? Therefore, Indonesia, which has tourism as the backbone of its economy, has declared that plastic pollution is the country's main economic threat.
Image source: Visual China
Third, plastic will enter the human body and endanger health. The air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat now contain plastic. Larger plastic products will break down into plastic fragments and particles in nature and enter the human body. Fish also contain plastic in their bodies. Even waters in the world's most pristine regions, like the Himalayas or the Arctic, now contain microplastics. We're not sure what the specific harm of microplastics is to humans – but certainly not.
Luckily, we know how to solve the plastic crisis. Solving the plastic problem doesn't require expensive high technology or sophisticated international diplomacy, and every country can act without observing what others do.
It is hard to imagine that the cleanest country in the world is Rwanda, a small, impoverished landlocked country. Garbage is not visible on the streets of Rwanda, especially in the capital, Kigali. Rwandan President Kagame told me that "every Rwandan's home is spotless". What we need to do is to extend this spirit to the entire international community.
Image source: Visual China
Tackling the plastic problem requires action on three fronts.
First of all, we should ban the production and use of all non-essential single-use plastic products, such as plastic straws, plastic tableware, plastic cups and plastic bags. The Indian government is already pursuing this policy, and the European Union is taking similar action. We can drink directly from a glass without the need for a straw at all. In North America, where the average person uses 600 straws per year, does drinking water from a straw make people feel happier? Don't hesitate anymore and act now!
We can also innovate further, such as making straws out of bamboo or paper instead of plastic straws. Indians have been eating on plates made of banana leaves for thousands of years. Startups around the world are experimenting with products with plastic properties from potatoes, sugar cane and other natural materials. Products made of such natural materials will degrade in nature after being discarded and will not cause environmental pollution.
China's express delivery industry generates about 1.8 million tons of plastic waste every year. Bamboo grows quickly, has strong toughness, is environmentally friendly, can be recycled, and is an ideal alternative to single-use plastics. In addition, growing bamboo can restore degraded or deforested land, mitigate soil erosion, and provide food for giant pandas and mountain gorillas.
Image source: Visual China
Second, we should recycle plastic products. While we can ban single-use plastics, there are still many plastics that are indispensable and their replacements are not easy to find. For example, the large number of plastic parts in the car reduces the weight of the body and reduces emissions. We have to recycle these necessary plastics.
Between 2011 and 2020, China recycled 170 million tons of plastic waste, reduced crude oil consumption by 510 million tons, and reduced carbon emissions by 61.2 million tons, making it the world's largest plastic recycler. In 2021, China recycled about one-third of its new plastic waste, about 1.7 times the global average.
Beijing has made significant progress in reducing plastic waste by requiring the express delivery industry to speed up the pace and comprehensively change the way express packaging is used, switching to electronic waybills, using "slimming tape" and recycling transit bags. Shanghai, Shanxi, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian have also taken similar measures in response to the Opinions on Further Strengthening Plastic Pollution Control issued by the Chinese government in 2020.
The host city of Hangzhou, the previously postponed 2022 Asian Games, will be held in September this year to showcase its commitment to the concept of a "waste-free city" and create a model of "waste-free" for large-scale sporting events. Hangzhou is making bold attempts to prepare for the Asian Games with the concept of green, thrifty, paperless and recyclable.
Image source: Visual China
Third, give play to the role of the market. All countries should introduce extended producer responsibility, which means that in today's "plastic age", who pollutes pays, and the companies that cause plastic problems should also provide funding to solve the problem. As producer responsibility expands, companies are involved in driving technological change. Businesses will have to pay a plastic tax, which governments can use to organize plastic recycling and pay for large-scale plastic recycling.
Plastic waste is a potential resource that we can turn into new products, create jobs, boost the economy, and protect our homes.
Individuals can also take action. A well-known environmental advocate, Indian Aphroz Shah organized the world's largest beach debris clean-up campaign. He encourages people around the world to clean up their environment, and I've worked with him many times in Mumbai to clean up plastic waste in rivers and beaches.
At a time when Sri Lanka was in economic crisis, a young Sri Lankan man named Nishanka de Silva founded Zero Plastics Sri Lanka. I thought it would be harder to mobilize young people to take environmental action in the face of the economic crisis, but it is unbelievable that countless local young people have joined the environmental action. What began as a one-man act to follow one's heart turned into a massive business change movement that rewrote the contract between humans and nature.
The world's fight against single-use plastics is still in its early stages, but there is no doubt that we will succeed. China will continue to play a key role in solving the plastic problem. June 5 World Environment Day has just passed, let's work together to defeat plastic pollution.
Image source: China Daily
Responsible Editor | Song Ping Luan Ruiying
Edit | ZHANG Zhao
Interns Zhuang Shuhan, Qin Ke, Yang Hengrui and Yao Qinqin also contributed
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