Sustainable initiatives that cause discontent

 

Unusable paper straw (Feilu 2021)

In Hangzhou, there has been a lot of controversy over an initiative to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals: replacing traditional plastic straws with paper straws. The amount of plastic straws used in China is quite large. According to China's National Bureau of Statistics (2020), nearly 46 billion plastic straws were produced in 2019, weighing around 30,000 tonnes. These straws can potentially cause significant environmental damage due to their small size and difficulty in degradation. Moreover, the production and burning process of plastic straws generates enormous amounts of pollution and carbon emissions. In contrast, paper straws are recyclable, naturally degradable and made from renewable materials. Using paper straws as an alternative to plastic straws then becomes a reasonable approach to achieving sustainable development goals.

However, neither consumers nor food companies are satisfied with this initiative. Firstly, paper straws are inconvenient and can easily become soft and disintegrate when immersed in liquid. Secondly, paper straws are more expensive than plastic straws and are more difficult to store as they are less resistant to pressure. Besides, this measure is mandatory, so consumers and businesses in specific industries can have no choice but to use paper straws.

From the perspective of governments and planners, this mandatory initiative was highly effective and successful in reducing the consumption of plastics for daily use and offering an example for future policymaking. However, considering that the sustainability goals contain requirements for social sustainability and other aspects, strategies that could cause resentment is not favourable in the long term. Ideally, initiatives should be proposed in advance; then, suggestions can be obtained from the community. It can also start on a small scale to receive feedback and adjust strategies for application on larger scales.


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