China bans plastic straws and single-use bags, making it one of the fewer nations to ban plastic straws. This ban has become effective in the country. In January 2020, this ban was initially announced in the Party’s new Five-Year Plan.
The country aims to reduce plastic pollution; it now moves to use biodegradable alternatives. Banning plastic straws is more effective in China than in other countries, simply because the plastic ones will be replaced by the polylactic acid compound straws.
Chinese consumers love to have bubble and milk tea. These treats are taken through plastic straws that are thicker and larger than the ones we see at McDonald’s.
In 2018, About 500,000 chains sold bubble tea in China and the to-go beverage market rose to 9.3%. Nayuki in Shanghai, a milk tea chain has been utilizing paper straws for most of the year, expecting the first phase of the plastic ban to start soon.
As China bans plastic straws and single-use bags, supermarkets such as RT Mart and Careful are tightening their policy. Biodegradable bags now replace these single-use bags.
A new agency in China revealed that while the price of biodegradable bags and straws are more expensive, the ban has witnessed the market share for bio-plastics to increase to about $7.3 BILLION IN 2025. This suggests that the price will rapidly decrease as more businesses enter the market with innovative technologies.