As the country with the biggest population and the second-largest world economy, China plays a significant role in addressing marine litter. Academia, policymakers, industry leaders, activists from civil society organizations, in partnership with international and UN organizations, explore various approaches to combat plastic waste pollution.
The East China Normal University and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), acting in partnership, brought together vital stakeholders to a forum titled "Combating Marine Plastic Waste" in November 2019 in Shanghai, China. The conference gave a unique opportunity to experts from Europe and Asia to review the trends of plastic production, approaches to monitor marine debris effectively, and to actualize waste management practices, as well as to brainstorm on ways to drastically reduce plastic pollution and, while doing so, to minimize adverse impacts on the environment.
Daoji Li, Professor at the State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research and the Plastic Marine Debris Research Center of the East China Normal University, presented results of his research on plastic waste. According to his findings, in 2001, in China, the load of plastic pollution in the sea ranged between a half and three-quarters of a million tons. Practitioners in China anticipated reducing by more than 100,000 tons the plastic waste entering the ocean every year, due to the improved regulations and measures. The total amount of plastic pollution to be decreased is expected to reach about 200,000 tons a year by 2020.
Juying Wang, Professor at China's National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, stated that a total of nearly 23 million tons of waste plastics were recycled in 2017 in China, accounting for over 30 percent of plastic production of the entire country. Currently, China aims to increase the portion of degradable packaging material by 50 percent by 2020.
Peter John Kershaw, Chair of the Joint Group of Experts on Scientific Aspects of Maine Protection, highlighted the importance of a risk assessment framework to identify the characteristics of microplastics, assess the risks, and develop mitigation measures.
Wenyue Yang, Director of the Policy and Regulation Division of the Shanghai Municipal Greening and City Appearance Administration, presented concrete actions taken in Shanghai
to improve waste separation practices in 2019. After regulations were issued, the waste recycling rate increased in Shanghai by 41.7 percent, compared with 2017.
Guanglian Pang, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association, pointed out that the petrochemical industry can solve the plastic waste problem from the perspective of molecular structure by establishing a green plastic supply chain with the engagement of society as a whole.
Nanqing Jiang, Secretary-General of the China Plastics Reuse and Recycling Association, highlighted the difficulty in introducing the circularity of the plastics. Focusing on recycling alone will not be enough to address the sheer amount of plastic waste. Production and consumption must be tackled as well.
The Northwest Pacific Action Plan was represented at the forum to exchange views with the participants on possible intergovernmental mechanisms to regulate plastic production and consumption. Notably, the Basel Convention Regional Center in Beijing was requested to assess the effects of banning the import of solid waste to China since 2017.
Several industry representatives presented their approaches to sustainable packaging and production. The meeting recommended formulating various measures to reduce plastic waste entering the sea, especially to strengthen the management of waste generated from coastal fishing, aquaculture, and household waste.
