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B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Bag): A Comprehensive Assessment Of China’S Plastic Bag Policy, Mary Beckwith O'Loughlin
B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Bag): A Comprehensive Assessment Of China’S Plastic Bag Policy, Mary Beckwith O'Loughlin
Mary Beckwith O'Loughlin
On June 1, 2008, the Chinese government enacted a nationwide policy prohibiting all stores from freely distributing plastic bags to customers. This new policy requires that, henceforth, all retailers must charge a nominal fee for plastic bags and that those purchasable bags must meet certain quality requirements to improve their potential reusability. These retailers, which include everything from grocery and clothing stores to farmer’s markets and food stalls, individually determine how much to charge for their bags and get to keep all related proceeds. The policy is an effort to mitigate the “white pollution” that is choking China’s landscape, as …