Non-woven bags are changed back to plastic bags?Non-woven bags ≠ environmentally friendly bags!

According to media reports, from January 1, 2024, Hema Fresh Delivery will no longer provide free non-woven bags, and will instead use degradable plastic bags for a fee.

According to the Hema fresh platform, this is mainly due to environmental considerations, and non-woven bags are also plastic bags, which are not environmentally friendly. Prior to this, Hema Fresh had been providing non-woven bags to consumers free of charge.

In January 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) jointly issued the "Strictest Plastic Restriction Order in History", which clearly requires that the production and sale of plastic products prohibited include "ultra-thin plastic shopping bags with a thickness of less than 0.025 mm", and the prohibited and restricted use of plastic products includes "non-degradable plastic bags".

Because of the word "cloth" in non-woven bags, many people think that non-woven bags are also green and environmentally friendly. Therefore, after the issuance of the "plastic restriction order", when non-degradable disposable plastic bags gradually withdrew from the market, reusable non-woven bags began to become one of the main alternatives, not only in supermarkets, takeaway and other fields are widely used, some companies will also print non-woven bags with propaganda slogans to the masses. In fact, to a certain extent, non-woven bags are also plastic products, and they are "non-degradable plastic bags" that are prohibited and restricted by the "plastic restriction order".

The "cloth" in the non-woven bag is not a cloth made of cotton in the traditional sense, but is made mainly of polypropylene fiber, which is the main polymer component of synthetic plastics. Therefore, although non-woven bags are tough, durable, reusable, and low-cost, they are more difficult to degrade than "white pollution" plastic bags, and will also cause pollution to the environment. If used only once, the energy consumption of a single non-woven bag is 17.8 times that of a single-use plastic bag, and the carbon emission is 16.7 times that of a single-use plastic bag. The non-woven bag should be reused at least 11 times to make up for the pollution it brings.

In recent years, the online shopping and takeaway retail industry has developed rapidly, and citizens who often shop online can accumulate dozens of non-woven bags in a few months. However, there are not so many things that are needed in daily life, and the delivery staff do not carry out recycling, so sometimes they have to be thrown into the trash.

The author believes that the practice of Hema Fresh to fulfill the main responsibility of environmental protection is worthy of vigorous publicity and promotion. In online shopping and distribution, use degradable plastic bags instead of non-woven bags, and refuse to use non-degradable plastic bags. According to Hema Fresh's estimates, the use of biodegradable plastic bags in online food delivery is expected to reduce the consumption of thousands of tons of traditional polypropylene plastic bags every year.

On January 16, 2020, the "Opinions of the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on Further Strengthening the Control of Plastic Pollution" mentioned in the "Opinions of the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on Further Strengthening the Control of Plastic Pollution" mentioned in the environmentally friendly cloth bags must be non-plastic products, and non-woven bags obviously do not meet this condition. It can be seen that in order to implement the "plastic restriction order", it is necessary to do a good job in popularizing science, clarifying the misunderstanding of the public's understanding, and creating a good social atmosphere for the implementation of the "plastic restriction order". Let the public realize that non-woven bags are also plastic bags, which are listed as prohibited uses.

 Yu's control of water, the way of water. The implementation of the "plastic restriction order" has also brought new business opportunities, and the government should encourage social innovation, provide more and better green and environmentally friendly alternative products, and continue to meet the needs of people's lives. Only in this way can the "plastic restriction order" take root and achieve practical results.