China to implement single-use plastic ban over 5 years

BEIJING — China will be implementing a ban on single-use plastics over the next five years.

A new policy will ban plastic bags in all major Chinese cities, such as Shanghai and Beijing, by the end of 2020 and in all Chinese towns by 2022, Reuters reports, citing China's National Development and Reform Commission. Markets that sell fresh produce will be exempt until 2025.

Restaurants will be banned from providing single-use straws by the end of this year, while takeaway food services will not be allowed to provide single-use utensils by 2025.

China aims to reduce single-use plastic consumption in its restaurant industry by 30 percent in the next five years.

Other plastic items such as plastic courier packaging will be phased out by the end of 2025.

China also stated that the production and sale of plastic bags thinner than 0.025 millimeters, as well as plastic film for agricultural use that is less than 0.01 millimeters thick, would be banned.

According to the online publication Our World in Data based at the University of Oxford, China produced nearly 60 million tons of plastic waste in 2010. The research noted that the projections are expected to be similar up to the year 2025.

The research also said that mismanaged plastic waste around the world is at "significant risk" of leaking and impacting our environment.