Plastic ban is not plastic ban Russian experts say this…

The beauty of Lake Baikal in northern Europe must be familiar to everyone. However, with the increase of tourists and the lack of local environmental control measures, garbage can be seen everywhere on the shore of Lake Baikal, and the lake ecosystem is seriously polluted, including plastic.

Banning the use of plastic bags, disposable PP tableware and paper wipes in the Baikal ecological zone will reduce the level of plastic pollution in the lake by 10 percent, said Ilyinna, a professor at the Department of General Ecology and Hydrobiology at Moscow State University, in a recent interview with the media.

Russia’s State Duma, the lower house of parliament, introduced a bill in June banning the sale and use of plastic bags, disposable pockets and cutlery in the Baikal ecological zone. Iliyina said the bill was meaningful but needed to be amended.

As for the plastic ban, she argues that giving up plastic altogether would take humanity back to the past, that not all types of plastic packaging have less dangerous alternatives, and that we would suffer a huge impact in terms of product quality and the corresponding quality of life.

Iliyina added: ‘Plastic is harmful but useful. It can be used to preserve products for a long time, and can ensure that the product meets health standards. So just banning all single-use plastics is enough.”

At present, in terms of straw market, once huge plastic straws have become the first list of plastic ban, replaced by paper straws and PLA biodegradable straws. However, the environmental protection of PLA is relatively environmentally friendly in theory, but it also needs extremely strict professional composting conditions to achieve degradation.

The new generation of natural degradable single-layer environmentally friendly paper straw developed by HE team is made of FSC certified food grade paper and formed by thermal pressure, which is safe and odorless. Compared with traditional paper straws, the new generation of paper straws are more temperature-resistant and bubble-resistant, and will not fall apart.

Looking back at the road to the plastic ban, we only want to alleviate the environment, but not to reduce the quality of life, perhaps there are still many difficulties on the road to the plastic ban, the iteration of alternative products may not be perfect, but it is worth waiting.