TABLE 1. Evolution of Policies to Strengthen Recycling in China

Year

Regulations/Policy Actions

2007 Administrative Measures for the Recovery of Renewable Resources / Notice on Restricting the Production and Sale of Plastic Shopping Bags

2011 Opinions on the Establishment of a Complete and Advanced Recycling System for Waste Goods

2015 Medium- to Long-term Plan for Construction of Renewable Resources Recycling System (2015-2020)

2016 Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Transformation and Development of China’s Packaging Industry

Significance

for Recycling

Foundation for China’s recycling system and China’s first attempt at banning single-use plastic packaging

Signal to enhance China’s recycling system

Established a funding system for the recycling and treatment of electronic waste, but lacked requirements for other types of waste

Proposed creation of a packaging waste recycling system by 2020

2017 Initiative to Guide the Shift toward Circular Development Set targets that by 2020, the rate of plastic recycling to increase by 15% compared with 2015, and recycling rate of other wastes by 54.6%

2017 Municipal Waste Collection and Sorting Pilots

46 cities mandated to carry out household waste collection and classification pilots to promote more recycling

2017 Implementation Plan for Prohibiting Entry of Foreign Garbage and Advancing Reform of the Solid Waste Import Administration System

2018 National Sword Policy

2019 Ratified the Basel Convention Amendment to include waste plastics in regulation of cross-border waste trade

2019 Zero-Waste City Pilots (Led by Ministry of Ecology and Environment)

2020 Opinions on Further Strengthening Control of Plastic Pollution

2020 Amendment of China’s Solid Waste Law

Required stricter regulation of foreign garbage imports, paving the way for the 2018 National Sword Policy, a game changer for global plastic recycling

In January 2018 China banned the import of most plastics that previously had gone to the nation’s recycling processors

China ratified this amendment in 2001 and brought into force in 2019

Standards for cities to adopt measures to drastically reduce waste production and promote reuse

By the end of 2020, 31 provinces and cities released their 2020-2025 targets for plastic bans, restriction and alternative targets

Added household waste sorting system into the regulation system

Sources used in text: Statistics Department of China Packaging Federation; Jin Yaning et al., 2008; UNEP; World Economic Forum; Ministry of Ecology and Environment; World Wide Fund; De Marchi et al., 2020; Yu Yang Yao & Lin Lusuo, 2019; Citizens' Ecological Environment Behavior