Rules for plastic products aim to curb urban pollution

Guideline sets timetable for phasing out range of nondegradable items

China unveiled a wide-ranging guideline to phase out nondegradable plastic products in major consuming sectors on Sunday, vowing to effectively curb plastic pollution in major cities in five years.

In addition to setting timelines to ban or restrict single-use, nondegradable plastic products in such sectors, the document also pledges to ramp up recycling and introduce preferential policies to promote green packaging and express delivery.

The country is expected to significantly reduce the amount of plastic waste going to landfills and bring plastic pollution under effective control in major cities by 2025, according to the guideline.

The production and sale of disposable foam plastic tableware and plastic cotton swabs will be banned by the end of this year, according to the document, jointly issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

The production of household chemicals containing plastic microbeads will be prohibited by the end of this year, and the sale of such products will be barred two years later, it said.