China’s environmental push away from plastics having knock on effects in paper industry, bubble tea shops
- China banned single-use plastic straws in all restaurants by the end of 2020 as part of Beijing’s new policy initiative to reduce environmental pollution
- The price of paper has since soared to a near two-year high, with some mills forced to increase their prices at least three times since the end of last year
Over the past few weeks, bubble tea lovers in China have been trying to get used to one thing that many of them were prepared for: paper straws.
The roll-out of paper straws at numerous bubble tea shops across China to replace the traditional plastic alternative is down to Beijing’s new policy initiative to reduce environmental pollution by cutting down on the use of plastic products.
The increasing demand for alternatives to plastic has since sent a ripple effect through the papermaking industry, and at the end of January, the price of paper pulp soared to 5,540 yuan (US$859) per tonne, a near two-year high, according to data tracked by the National Bureau of Statistics.
In the futures market, the price of pulp shot above 6,500 yuan per tonne this week, based on daily trade data from the Shanghai Futures Exchange.