Plastic bans are laws that prohibit the use of polymers made from petroleum or other fossil fuels because they cause pollution and threaten biodiversity. An increasing number of countries have plastic bag bans and bans on single-use plastics and are looking to extend the ban on all plastic packaging, plastic clothing (such as polyester and acrylic), or any other form of unnecessary plastic.

These plastics can be replaced with readily biodegradable or non-polluting alternatives. Plastics take a long time to biodegrade and may not fully biodegrade (so they are absorbed by the ecosystem), leaving behind traces of microplastics. This ranges from 450 years for PET plastic bottles to thousands of years for polypropylene-based products, including food containers.

From October 2023, the UK government will ban “single-use plastics” in England, a definition that includes a range of products but excludes “pre-packaged food on the shelf” commonly found in most supermarkets.

China will phase in a plastics ban from 2020 to 2025, covering plastic bags, cutlery, certain packaging, and hotel supplies, among others.

As of May 2024, 12 US states have banned single-use plastic bags.

With the global ban on plastics, more and more industries will choose other environmentally friendly materials to replace plastics. However, some plastics are also environmentally friendly, but they are more expensive. For-profit considerations, other substitutes are often chosen. I am happy to tell you that EBI has long stopped producing ordinary plastics. And has chosen to produce plastics with higher environmental protection levels to meet the needs of more customers and contribute to environmental protection.