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 | Saturday, May 06, 2000, updated at 12:17(GMT+8) | ||||||||||||
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Shanghai Promotes 'Green Sale'The Shanghai Municipal government is reported to launch a "green sale" project soon, which will use recyclable plastic and paper packaging to help improve the environment.The step aims to cut down on waste like plastic packaging, disposable chopsticks, styrofoam lunch boxes and used batteries. "This is the first time the city has introduced the 'green sale' concept and I believe Shanghai is taking the lead in the country in this regard," said Xia Bojin, director of Shanghai Municipal Food Office. "The green sale concept combines environmental protection, the development of enterprises and the improvement of quality of life. When the economy is developed to a certain degree, it's time for the city to have a try," added Xia. Three kinds of non-polluting packaging materials will first appear in the main commercial outlets and streets in the city during the second half of the year. Biodegradable plastic which can naturally decompose after five or six months, recyclable plastic and paper will partly replace the now widely used plastic bags in stores and supermarkets. Limits will be placed on the use of excessive packaging beginning the third quarter of the year. "Excessive packaging is a very serious problem in the city especially in goods sold in supermarkets such as health care products with layers of paper, plastic and too much padding," said Xia. Disposable chopsticks and styrofoam lunch boxes will be banned in downtown main restaurants and snack stores by the end of this year. Provision for disposable articles used in hotels such as cups, slippers and soaps are also expected to be made subject to limits according to the international practice. The city's commercial commission has also decided to set up counters accepting used batteries in large department stores and supermarket outlets. "But the green sale project will be no easy task," said Xia. The high cost of producing non-polluting products is the first hard nut to crack. The cost of biodegradable plastic is about 70 to 80 per cent higher than ordinary ones which frightens off many enterprises. Apart from financial factors, a lack of awareness among local residents also hampers the implementation of the project. The concept of using non-polluting products is not familiar to most people. A lack of non-polluted resources and raw materials is also a big problem for producers. The city plans to develop a range of non-polluted bean products. Special technology and equipment will be used to help grow and package non-polluted beans, currently very rare in China. "And it is also impractical to put a complete ban on styrofoam lunch boxes because there are so many restaurants depending on them to earn money," said Xia. "Anyway, the government has made the decision to launch the project this year. Now investigations into and formulations of the scheme are under way."
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