WWS Editor/Joy Wu
In 2002, Taiwan introduced the first phase of plastic bag reduction measures to cut down people’s reliance on single-use plastic bags and raise environmental awareness. Government departments, public and private schools, department stores, shopping centers, wholesale stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, fast-food restaurants and other major retail establishments were required to charge customers for plastic bags and stop using plastic disposable tableware. An estimated number of 20,000 businesses were influenced at that time. 15 years later, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) announced the second phase of plastic bag reduction measures will be put into practice from January 1st 2018. Pharmacies, medical equipment stores, camera and cellphone retailers, bookstores and stationery retailers, laundromats, beverage stores and bakeries are among those to come under the regulations in 2018. By then, there will be nearly 100,000 businesses influenced by the regulations.
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According to a study led by ecologist Roland Geyer from the UC Santa Barbara (UCSB), the amount of plastic created by human since the large-scale production of synthetic materials in the early 1950s was more than 8 billion metric tons. Most of the plastic is either buried in landfills, scattered in the natural environment, floating on the rivers or end up in the ocean. The percentage of plastic truly enters recycle system is quite low. In view of the fact that there were a large number of indecomposable plastic entering the ecosystem in the past century, many governments have issued related policies. Below is a list of policies and measures taken by different countries categorized by regions.
