On March 20, 2020, China’s Hainan Province released the Inventory of Single-use Non-biodegradable Plastics Prohibited from Production, Sale and Use (Batch 1) [1], following a public consultation [2] held in July last year. The Inventory comprises two parts, i.e. single-use films and bags which contain non-biodegradable polymer materials like PE, PP, PS, PVC, EVA and PET, and single-use tableware containing non-biodegradable polymer materials.
According to the Notice accompanying the Inventory, the production, sale and use of plastics listed therein will be prohibited starting from December 1, 2020.
The Inventory was developed in accordance with the Program of Hainan Province for Comprehensively Prohibiting Production, Sale and Use of Single-use Non-biodegradable Plastics[3], which required an inventory-based approach be adopted to regulate plastics.
In addition, earlier in February this year, Hainan Province published the Regulations on Prohibiting Single-use Non-biodegradable Plastics [1], laying out a set of detailed measures to tackle plastic pollution.
