Restaurants and bookshops debagged

By Yang Lifei  |   2008-7-11  |     ONLINE EDITION

RESTAURANTS and bookstores have been formally included in the nationwide ban on free plastic bags, a drive to save energy and protect the environment, the Beijing Times reported today.

The Ministry of Commerce and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce yesterday issued additions to the regulations stipulating that flimsy bags are banned and retailers, including supermarkets, department stores and grocery stores, must charge for carrier bags.

The additional regulations were made because some problems arose after the rules came into force on June 1, the newspaper said.

"Many restaurants ignored the rules and continued providing plastic bags for diners," Dong Jinshi, vice secretary of Beijing Society for Environmental Science, told the newspaper. "Now the regulations clearly state that the rules apply to restaurants, bookstores, construction material shops and clothing shops."

Plastic bags used to pack pork, seafood, fruit and vegetables should not have handles and be of sufficient quality for food packaging. "Our survey showed the use of plastic bags that were supplied in rolls at fresh food departments rose sharply after the ban was instituted. Many customers collected lots of these and used them as carrier bags," Dong said. "Some supermarkets were using plastic bags with holes for carrying which just led to new waste and pollution."

The new rules also say that plastic bags that fail to reach national standards on thickness and strength will be banned from sale from October.

The old regulations allowed inferior plastic bags to be sold up to next June.

The extra regulations say retailers should purchase quality plastic bags from registered manufacturers and keep related documents and accounts."Some businesses offer free plastic bags, sometimes low quality bags, to retailers for promotional activities, and the new rules are designed to prevent these circulating," Dong told the newspaper.