Black market prevails as 'white pollution' unleashed

(ECNS) -- A 14-year ban in China on the sale of disposable dinnerware made of polystyrene foam has been lifted since May 1, and the logic behind the move remains unclear.

According to reports, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has explained by saying that plastic foam can now be recycled into raw materials for construction, paint and stationary, but the details of how that recycling will be carried out have not been clarified.

Plastic-foam dinnerware was included in a list of products and industries to be eliminated by the State Council in 1999, due at least in part to the material's lack of biodegradability.

It has continued to be widely used, however, particularly by street vendors and small eateries, according the Beijing Evening News.

About 2 million disposable dinnerware products are used daily in Beijing, and plastic-foam packaging accounts for 20 percent of that, the International Food Packaging Association has said.

Li Peisheng, director of China's Plastic Dinnerware Office, points out that disposable dinnerware made of plastic foam costs half as much the cheapest disposable dinnerware previously allowed, a fact that has endeared it to penny-pinching street-food vendors.

"Some shops in this market might provide slightly more expensive boxes for customers," says a man named Zhang, who runs a food stall in east Beijing. "But all of the stalls in this market use plastic-foam packaging, including the barbecues."

Zhang says he has bought plastic-foam containers from shops in the market for as low as 8 "fen" (about 1.2 US cents). According to one plastic-foam product seller surnamed Xu: "The prices of other food packages are higher, so nearly all stall owners buy the cheapest."

Plastic-foam containers can also readily be bought in bulk. In the Xinfadi agri-product wholesale market, the largest in northern China, plastic-foam dinnerware has been available for years.

None who sell it are worried about violating regulations, as few inspections are carried out. One anonymous seller in Xinfadi says it makes no difference: "They were available before the ban was lifted. I have eaten out of them for lunch every day."

The NDRC said on March 28 that plastic-foam dinnerware meets national food-packaging standards, yet reporters found no traceable information on any containers that might help verify that claim.

Dong Jinshi, vice-president of the International Food Packaging Association, says that many of the plastic-foam food containers sold and used on the market do not meet quality standards, and that some are even made of recycled plastic waste. Moreover, the containers don't stand up well to high temperatures, which can lead to toxic materials leaking into food.

Meanwhile, environmental concerns remain unresolved. Yang Weihe, a packaging expert at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is concerned that lifting the ban will lead to "a big increase in the amount of plastic waste, because there is no effective recycling system to deal with plastic foam."

"Government departments and enterprises producing plastic-foam packaging should collaborate and work out an effective solution to recycle the material," says Dong.