Shanghai’s war on waste leads to plastics surge

Several weeks after the launch of Shanghai’s much-applauded compulsory waste sorting initiative, the eco-friendly policy has seen a not-so-green result, with a surge in plastic consumption that has left manufacturers struggling to keep up.

Sales of plastic bags and bins designed for specific types of rubbish have soared, while manufacturers in China’s plastics producing hub, in neighbouring Zhejiang province, are working day and night to meet demand.

While some industry insiders see this as a short-term impact of the new waste policy, others expect it to last for some time, due to the central government’s intention to extend waste classification to more than 40 major cities across the country.

On Taobao, China’s biggest online shopping platform, 3 million household rubbish bins were sold last month – or more than one per second – according to its own data. The last week of June saw sales climb by half from the same period last year, it said. Taobao is owned by Alibaba Group, which also owns the South China Morning Post.

According to data published by JD.com, Taobao’s major rival, Shanghai sales of rubbish bins and bags between June 20 and June 30 on its platform rose by 105 times and 67 times, respectively from the same period last year.