Say no to disposable food and beverage items

In a few days, the "Shanghai Municipal Domestic Waste Management Regulations" will be officially implemented. According to the regulations, the Municipal Market Supervision Bureau has made it clear that starting from next month, catering service providers and catering delivery service providers shall not proactively provide consumers with disposable chopsticks, spoons, knives, and forks. So, how do citizens and businesses accept this new regulation? In the process of reducing the amount of plastic tableware, why are these four small items the first step?

During lunch time, many white-collar workers gathered at the fast food counter in the convenience store. A Knews reporter bought a lunch box, but the salesperson did not take the initiative to provide chopsticks. However, after the reporter requested, he quickly took out a pair from under the table.

"You buy lunch boxes and we give you lunch boxes. You have to ask us to give you a pair of chopsticks before we can give them to you. We have surveillance cameras and leaders will be fined if they catch us," said the staff.

At Starbucks, there are no cutlery in the self-service area, and the straw material has been changed from plastic to paper, and you need to ask the staff for it. The staff said that after July 1, the cutlery for salads will also be more environmentally friendly, and "forks will not be provided after July 1."

According to the Shanghai Municipal Domestic Waste Management Regulations, the Municipal Market Supervision Bureau has published a catalogue, which clearly states that from next month, catering service providers and catering delivery service providers shall not proactively provide consumers with disposable chopsticks, spoons, knives and forks. Violators will be ordered by the market supervision department to make rectifications within a time limit or even be fined. Many citizens expressed their understanding and support for this.

"I haven't used up all the chopsticks in my dormitory yet, so there's a lot of waste," one resident said. "Before, even if you ordered without tableware, they would still deliver it, because they were afraid that the customer would be dissatisfied or ask for responsibility, so this is pretty good." But many people think that this is not very convenient. "What should I do if I buy a box lunch at FamilyMart? Should I bring a pair of chopsticks? It is definitely inconvenient. I can't eat it directly after I buy it. I have to prepare tableware and so on. It's very annoying." Many merchants said that unless they specifically indicate that no tableware is required, they will proactively deliver tableware to avoid complaints from customers later.

"Just put as many pairs of chopsticks as he ordered," the merchants said. "Later, (the customers) will have no chopsticks or spoons to eat with. I think that's a bit unreasonable."

When you open the takeout platform, you can see that consumers can choose the number of cutlery portions when ordering, but it is not a mandatory option. Even if they are not checked, merchants will generally allocate the number of cutlery portions to the corresponding number of people by default.

"Even if you don't check the box, we will send you tableware," the merchant told reporters. "By default, we will give you a meal bag, which contains chopsticks, spoons and napkins."

Some citizens have pointed out that the amount of disposable lunch boxes generated by takeout and packaged food far exceeds these four small items, so why are only the "four small items" clearly restricted this time? In this regard, experts explained that the "four small items" are relatively easy to replace and are more acceptable to citizens, so they are suitable to be the starting point for the initial implementation of source reduction.

Director of the Institute of Circular Economy at Tongji University, said: "We should start with the easy and then move on to the difficult. The implementation of the 'four small items' is relatively easy. If you usually bring your own chopsticks and spoon, the possibility is relatively high. It is more difficult to bring your own bowl or large container."

Some disposable tableware manufacturers said that they currently have disposable tableware made of environmentally friendly materials for sale, but the market has not been so quick to accept it. "Currently, the sales are not that good, because the cornstarch alone costs more than 10 cents for chopsticks, and the difference for spoons is also more than 10 cents. Together, they are much more expensive." Some food delivery platforms have also stated that they are actively optimizing their systems and will launch a "recommendation of items without tableware" feature. When users place an order, the platform will no longer provide tableware by default. Users will receive a pop-up reminder asking whether they need tableware and will need to actively confirm the number of tableware. At the same time, reward and punishment rules will be formulated for merchants that do not require tableware.

"For restaurants and shops that fully meet users' requirements for not requiring tableware, we will provide traffic support and use positive business measures to change their concept of more tableware rather than less, and better promote green development." Meituan-Dianping Chief Food Safety Officer Song Zhe said.

Experts pointed out that the reduction of the "four small items" in catering and the "six small items" in hotels is essentially a gradual change to the public's existing consumption and living habits, creating favorable conditions for the comprehensive promotion of source reduction of all types of domestic waste in the future.

Professor at the School of Environmental Science and Engineering at Tongji University, said: “This process itself is a process of mutual education. Our public has begun to understand that we need to improve our consumption habits as much as possible to reduce the acquisition of resources and reduce waste. After we gradually develop good consumption habits, we will start to manage the fast food boxes.”

Some people worry that in the most extreme case, even if merchants do not take the initiative to provide disposable tableware, if consumers take the initiative to ask for it, then the so-called reduction will be impossible. In this regard, experts said that there is a process of cultivating the public's consumption habits and environmental awareness. The more difficult it is to obtain disposable tableware, the greater the opportunity for the popularization of recyclable environmentally friendly tableware. Reducing waste at its source is a protracted battle with a long way to go.