To the people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, as well as all ministries and departments of the State Council and their directly affiliated institutions:

Plastic is widely used in production and daily life, and is an important basic material. Non standardized production, use of plastic products, and recycling of plastic waste can lead to energy waste and environmental pollution, increasing the pressure on resources and the environment. Actively addressing plastic pollution is related to the health of the people, the construction of ecological civilization and high-quality development in China. In order to implement the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, further strengthen the control of plastic pollution, and establish a sound long-term management mechanism for plastic products, with the approval of the State Council, the following opinions are proposed.

1、 Overall requirements

（1） Guiding ideology.  

（2） Basic principles.

Highlight key points and advance in an orderly manner. Strengthen source control, focus on key areas and important links in the production and use of plastic products, and classify and propose management requirements for prominent issues strongly reflected by society; Taking into account the actual situation in various regions and fields, we will reasonably determine the implementation path and actively and steadily promote the work of plastic pollution control.

Innovation leads, technology supports. Guided by the principles of recyclability, easy recyclability, and degradability, we will develop and promote plastic products and alternative products that meet performance standards, are environmentally friendly, and economically applicable. We will cultivate new business models that are conducive to standardized recycling and reuse, and reduce plastic pollution.
Diversified participation and social governance. Give full play to the main responsibility of enterprises, strengthen government supervision and management, enhance policy guidance, consolidate social consensus, and form a diversified governance system with the participation of the government, enterprises, industry organizations, and the public.

（3） Main objective.

By 2020, we will be the first to ban or restrict the production, sale, and use of certain plastic products in certain regions and fields. By 2022, the consumption of disposable plastic products will significantly decrease, alternative products will be promoted, and the proportion of plastic waste resources and energy utilization will significantly increase; In the prominent areas of plastic pollution and emerging fields such as e-commerce, express delivery, and food delivery, a batch of replicable and promotable plastic reduction and green logistics models have been formed. By 2025, the management system for the production, circulation, consumption, and recycling of plastic products will be basically established, a diversified governance system will be basically formed, the development and application level of alternative products will be further improved, the amount of plastic waste landfill in key cities will be significantly reduced, and plastic pollution will be effectively controlled.

2、 Prohibit or restrict the production, sale, and use of certain plastic products

（4） Prohibited production and sale of plastic products. It is prohibited to produce and sell ultra-thin plastic shopping bags with a thickness less than 0.025 millimeters and polyethylene agricultural films with a thickness less than 0.01 millimeters. It is prohibited to use medical waste as raw material to manufacture plastic products. Completely prohibit the import of waste plastics. By the end of 2020, the production and sale of disposable foam plastic tableware and disposable plastic cotton swabs will be prohibited; Prohibit the production of daily chemical products containing plastic microbeads. By the end of 2022, the sale of daily chemical products containing plastic microbeads will be prohibited.

（5） Prohibited or restricted use of plastic products.

1. Non degradable plastic bags. By the end of 2020, shopping malls, supermarkets, pharmacies, bookstores and other venues in the built-up areas of municipalities directly under the central government, provincial capital cities, and planned cities, as well as catering packaging and delivery services and various exhibition activities, will be prohibited from using non degradable plastic bags. The use of non degradable plastic bags will be regulated and restricted in the market; By the end of 2022, the implementation scope will be expanded to include all built-up areas of prefecture level and above cities, as well as built-up areas of coastal counties. By the end of 2025, the use of non degradable plastic bags will be prohibited in the above-mentioned regional markets. Encourage places with conditions to stop using non degradable plastic bags in urban-rural fringe areas, towns, and rural markets.

2. Disposable plastic tableware. By the end of 2020, the use of non degradable disposable plastic straws will be prohibited in the catering industry nationwide; Catering and dine in services in built-up areas and scenic spots of cities at or above the prefecture level are prohibited from using non degradable disposable plastic tableware. By the end of 2022, the use of non degradable disposable plastic tableware will be prohibited for dining and dine in services in built-up areas and scenic spots in county towns. By 2025, the consumption intensity of non degradable disposable plastic tableware in the food delivery industry in cities at or above the prefecture level will decrease by 30%.

3. Disposable plastic products for hotels and guesthouses. By the end of 2022, star rated hotels, inns and other places nationwide will no longer actively provide disposable plastic products. Relevant services can be provided through setting up self-service purchase machines and providing refillable dishwashing agents; By the end of 2025, the implementation scope will be expanded to all hotels, guesthouses, and homestays.

4. Plastic packaging for express delivery. By the end of 2022, postal and express delivery outlets in Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and other provinces and cities will first ban the use of non degradable plastic packaging bags, disposable plastic woven bags, etc., and reduce the amount of non degradable plastic tape used. By the end of 2025, postal and express delivery outlets nationwide will prohibit the use of non degradable plastic packaging bags, plastic tape, disposable plastic woven bags, etc.

3、 Promote the application of alternative products and models

（6） Promote the use of alternative products. Promote the use of environmentally friendly non plastic products such as cloth bags and paper bags, as well as biodegradable shopping bags, in shopping malls, supermarkets, pharmacies, bookstores, and other places. Encourage the installation of self-service and intelligent dispensing devices to facilitate people's lives. Promote the use of biodegradable packaging film (bags) for fresh products. Establish a centralized purchase and sale system for shopping bags in the market. Promote the use of bio based products such as straw coated meal boxes and biodegradable plastic bags that meet performance and food safety requirements in the field of food delivery. Promote biodegradable plastic film on a large scale in key film covering areas, combined with agricultural measures.

（7） Cultivate and optimize new business formats and models. Strengthen the responsibility of enterprise green management and promote green supply chain. E-commerce, food delivery and other platform enterprises should strengthen merchant management, develop implementation plans for reducing and replacing disposable plastic products, and release the implementation status to the society. Focusing on chain supermarkets, large-scale markets, logistics warehousing, e-commerce express delivery, etc., we will promote enterprises to actively promote recyclable and foldable packaging products and logistics distribution equipment through equipment leasing, financing leasing, and other methods. Encourage enterprises to adopt equity cooperation, joint capital injection and other methods to build a cross platform operation system for recyclable packaging. Encourage enterprises to use integrated packaging for goods and logistics, and establish a recyclable logistics distribution equipment recycling system.

（8） Increase the supply of green products. Plastic product manufacturers must strictly comply with relevant laws and regulations, produce plastic products that meet relevant standards, and must not illegally add chemical additives that are harmful to human health and the environment. Promote green design to enhance the safety and recycling performance of plastic products. Actively adopting new green and environmentally friendly functional materials, increasing the use of recycled plastics that meet quality control standards and usage control requirements, strengthening the research and development of recyclable, easy to recycle, and biodegradable alternative materials and products, reducing application costs, and effectively increasing the supply of green products.

4、 Standardize the recycling, utilization, and disposal of plastic waste

（9） Strengthen the recycling and transportation of plastic waste. Combined with the implementation of garbage classification, we will increase the collection and treatment of recyclable materials such as plastic waste, and prohibit the indiscriminate stacking and dumping of plastic waste that causes pollution. In places where plastic waste is generated in large quantities, such as office buildings, airports, stations, ports, etc., it is necessary to increase the facilities for disposal and increase the frequency of transportation. Promote multi-party cooperation among e-commerce food delivery platforms, environmental sanitation departments, recycling enterprises, etc., and deploy recycling facilities such as express packaging and food delivery boxes in key areas. Establish and improve the recycling system for waste agricultural film; Standardize the recycling and disposal of discarded fishing nets and gear.

（10） Promote the utilization of resources and energy. To promote the standardization, centralization, and industrialization of plastic waste resource utilization, relevant projects should be gathered in resource recycling bases and other parks to improve the level of plastic waste resource utilization. Plastic waste with high sorting costs and unsuitable for resource utilization should be promoted for energy utilization, and the operation and management of enterprises such as garbage incineration and power generation should be strengthened to ensure stable and compliant emissions of various pollutants, and to minimize the amount of plastic waste directly buried.

（11） Carry out special cleaning of plastic waste. Accelerate the investigation and rectification of informal dumping and disposal sites for household waste, with a focus on addressing plastic pollution caused by the indiscriminate dumping and disposal of household waste in urban-rural fringe areas, environmentally sensitive areas, roads and rivers, ponds and ditches. Rivers and Lakes and harbors were cleaned of plastic waste and beaches were cleaned. Promote the cleaning and remediation of residual plastic film, pesticide and fertilizer plastic packaging in farmland, and gradually reduce the amount of residual plastic film in farmland.

5、 Improve the support and guarantee system

（12） Establish and improve regulatory systems and standards. Promote the revision of relevant laws and regulations, and incorporate the prevention and control of plastic pollution into the requirements of relevant laws and regulations. Timely update and release the list of prohibited and restricted plastic products. Develop green design guidelines for plastic products. Improve the quality control standards for recycled plastics and standardize the use of recycled plastics. Revise the standard labeling for biodegradable materials and products. Establish and improve green management and evaluation standards for emerging industries such as e-commerce, express delivery, and food delivery. Conduct a graded evaluation of packaging suitability for products with prominent packaging issues and propose differentiated management measures. Incorporate the control requirements for disposable plastic products into the evaluation and rating standards for tourist attractions, star rated hotels, and hotels. Improve environmental protection standards for the resource and energy utilization of plastic waste. Explore the establishment of a system for disclosing production and sales information of plastic raw materials and finished products. Explore the implementation of corporate legal person's commitment to integrity and punishment for breach of trust, and include illegal production, sales, and use of plastic products in the record of breach of trust.

（13） Improve relevant support policies. Intensify support for key projects such as green packaging research and development production, green logistics and distribution system construction, and the operation of specialized and intelligent recycling facilities. Implement relevant financial and tax policies, and increase government procurement efforts for green products that meet standards. Carry out pilot demonstrations of new green supply chain construction, promotion of new products and models, and recycling of waste agricultural film. Various regions should support the deployment of specialized recycling facilities and eliminate management barriers for facilities entering public places such as residential communities, subway stations, stations, and office buildings. Encourage various regions to adopt economic measures to promote the reduction and substitution of disposable plastic products. Public institutions should take the lead in stopping the use of non degradable disposable plastic products.

（14） Strengthen technological support. Conduct research and evaluation on environmental risks throughout the lifecycle of different types of plastic products. Strengthen research on the mechanisms, monitoring, prevention and control technologies, and policies of plastic waste and microplastic pollution in rivers, lakes, and seas, and carry out ecological environment impact and human health risk assessments. Intensify the key core technology research and achievement transformation of recyclable and biodegradable materials, and improve the performance of alternative materials and products. Focusing on the safety and controllability of degradation, as well as the economic feasibility of large-scale application, we will carry out technology verification and product selection for biodegradable plastic films.

（15） Strict law enforcement supervision. Strengthen daily management and supervision inspections, strictly implement policies and measures prohibiting, restricting the production, sale, and use of certain plastic products. Strictly crack down on the illegal production and sale of plastic products prohibited by the state, and strictly investigate and punish behaviors such as false labeling and forgery.     Those responsible for ineffective implementation shall be investigated and dealt with in accordance with the law and regulations, and rectification shall be urged through public exposure, interviews, and other means.

6、 Strengthen organizational implementation

（16） Strengthen organizational leadership. All regions and relevant departments should attach great importance to the control of plastic pollution, carefully organize and arrange, and effectively implement it. The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, together with relevant departments, have established a special working mechanism to coordinate and guide related work, timely summarize and analyze the progress of work, and report major situations and problems to the Party Central Committee and the State Council. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment, together with relevant departments, will carry out a joint special action to strengthen the supervision and inspection of the implementation of plastic pollution control. Key issues will be included in the central ecological environment protection inspection, and assessment and accountability will be strengthened. Local governments at all levels should formulate specific implementation measures and refine policy measures based on local conditions.

（17） Strengthen publicity and guidance. Intensify publicity efforts on plastic pollution control, guide the public to reduce the use of disposable plastic products, participate in garbage classification, and resist excessive packaging. Utilize channels such as newspapers, radio and television, and new media to extensively promote the effectiveness and typical practices of plastic pollution control. Guide industry associations, business groups, and public welfare organizations to conduct professional seminars, volunteer activities, etc. in an orderly manner, widely gather consensus, and create a good atmosphere for the whole society to participate together.

National Development and Reform Commission

Ministry of Ecology and Environment

January 16, 2020