Free bag ban flouted by city retailers

ALMOST three years after a law was brought in to curb the use of plastic bags, they are still being widely offered free of charge at many outlets in Shanghai. The Chinese Cabinet, the State Council, introduced legislation on June 1, 2008, stating that stores should no longer provide plastic bags free to shoppers. Outlets doing so could be fined 10,000 yuan(US$1,500). Officials with the Ministry of Commerce said at the weekend they are now considering banning free plastic bags in places such as restaurants and hospitals. The ministry is now canvassing public opinion. However, an investigation by Shanghai Daily has found the regulations are ignored by many stores and vendors in Shanghai - from chain brands to street-side markets. Instead of charging consumers for bags, as they are required to by the authorities, the stores happily offer free non-recyclable bags. Reporters visited a dozen food and beverage stores downtown, where takeaway plastic bags are in high demand, and found most provide them free of charge. Some stores said they used to make customers pay after the legislation was introduced, but the practice was soon dropped. Inside an outlet of a popular bakery chain on downtown Maoming Road N., free plastic bags were being given away at a speed of nearly one a minute yesterday afternoon. Management had intended to charge for the bags but the plan had not yet been introduced, said a worker, surnamed Xu. "The bags are good quality and I always take them back home to use as wet market shopping bags," said Wang Liping, a teacher who often visited the bakery "I'm very pleased that the store offers them free." At KFC, some diners said they hoped the fast-food chain would continue to offer free plastic bags because it would be inconvenient for them to pay for them. "It's hassle for me to search through my pocket for a couple of jiao coins just to pay for a plastic bag," said one diner. At a noodle shop, a fruit bar, a dessert store and other eateries along downtown Wujiang Road, plastic bags were all offe! red free . Staff said there were no plans to charge for them. And at local wet markets and vegetable stalls, thin plastic bags were free to shoppers.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

40,000 hairy crabs released in Yangtze

Image
THE city government yesterday freed 40,000 hairy crabs into the mouth of Yangtze River near the Qingcaosha Reservoir, the first step in a five-year campaign to repair the ecosystem to improve the water quality in the reservoir that provides tap water for millions of residents. The hairy crabs will help establish a complete food chain in the river to help more fish and other aquatic animals survive in the river, Zhuang Ping, deputy director of the East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, told Shanghai Daily yesterday. The released crabs, about half female and half male, will eat plankton while some of their offspring will become food for meat-eating fish higher in the food chain, said Zhuang, who is leading the water-improvement program. "The better ecosystem the water has, the better its water quality will be," he said. With a capacity of 438 million cubic meters, the reservoir is providing tap water to about 10 million
Keep reading

Shanghai port consolidates its position as world's busiest

Image
SHANGHAI, the world's busiest container port, will consolidate its title this year and leverage its record throughput to become a multi-faceted provider of port services. The city, which overtook Singapore as the world's biggest container handler last year, saw its annual container traffic volume surpass 30 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEU) yesterday. The figure hits an unprecedented level in the world's port history and marks a new leg in Shanghai's voyage to become a global shipping center by 2020. China's remarkable trade boom is reflected in the Shanghai port numbers, which went from 7,951 TEUs in 1978 to 29.05 million TEUs in 2010. The city's customs oversaw a total of US$790 billion worth of imports and exports in the first three quarters of this year - a 19.3 percent year-on-year increase. And its port handled 23.9 million TEUs over the first 10 months, ahead of that of 23.56 million TEUs at Singapore Port. Shanghai International Port (Group) Co,
Keep reading

Praise, scorn for teacher's odd command

Image
A middle school math teacher has stirred controversy after forcing 20 of his students to slap their own faces for three minutes because they made noise in class and scored poorly on exams. Angry local residents are demanding that the teacher resign and asking the school to announce a punishment. But some of the teacher's students, including some who were forced to slap themselves, are calling for leniency. The incident occurred in a class at Donglu Middle School in Pudong on Tuesday when the math teacher surnamed Yang ordered 20 students in his class to slap their faces after he was irritated by them making noise in class. The students said Yang was known as a very strict teacher, so almost all the students obeyed his order and started slapping themselves in the face for about three minutes. Those who slapped too lightly were told by the teacher to slap harder, students told the Oriental Morning Post. Yang's behavior has sparked anger among local residents, especially so
Keep reading