When was "white pollution"?

Foam plastic tableware was identified as one of the culprits of the environmental pollution, the state has prohibited orders, but the status quo is not optimistic.
The foam plastic tableware that should have been said goodbye in the last century can still be seen everywhere today: streets and lanes, beautiful mountains and rivers, little white spots... The national authorities are very dissatisfied with this and have recently issued a joint circular to urge all localities to strengthen the elimination of disposable hair. Foam plastic tableware for law enforcement supervision. Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui and other places have adopted limited measures to coffer foam plastic tableware.
Status Quo: It is difficult to stop disposable foam plastic tableware being called “white pollution”, saying that it uses foaming agents in the production process and destroys the atmosphere’s ozone layer; when these tableware are used, it is easy to encounter high temperatures. Substances that are harmful to human health will be burned to produce carcinogenic substances - dioxins. It will take 200 years to decompose into landfills and cause serious pollution to the soil, atmosphere and groundwater. Relevant statistics show that China consumes more than 10 billion disposable plastic foam tableware each year, and only the railway passenger transport sector consumes 300 million each year. Therefore, the use of a wide range of disposable foam plastic tableware has become one of the culprits polluting the environment.
For disposable foamed plastic tableware, the State Economic and Trade Commission had included it on the “blacklist” as early as January 1999, requiring that it be phased out before the end of 2000. In 2001, it issued another article three times, demanding that the production, sales and use of such products be stopped nationwide. However, the actual situation is not optimistic. In many places, plastic tableware can still be seen. Even in some wholesale markets, booths for such products are in front of the market, and the degradable tableware recommended by the environmental protection department is lacking.
The crux of the problem: Three times since the disposable foam plastic tableware has caused so many harms to the environment, and the state has stipulated the prohibition of continued production, use, and sales, why is it that it has been banned for so many years?
Researchers at the Shanghai City Appearance and Environmental Hygiene Administration believe that there are three barriers: price factors, substitute products cannot be kept up to date, and law enforcement is not sufficient. At present, the foamed plastic tableware on the market is about 0.08 yuan each, while the environmentally friendly product is also the lowest 0.17 yuan, which is almost twice as expensive as the foaming tableware, and the price reduction space is limited. Benefit-driven, low-cost disposable foam plastic tableware naturally has a great market, while alternative products are difficult to promote. In addition, although the tableware technology made of pulp, straw, rice husks, and non-foamed plastics is relatively mature, due to the lack of policies to prohibit disposable foam plastic tableware in China, there is a lack of policy on the production of environmentally friendly products. Corresponding incentives, many companies dare not invest in large-scale production, which, on the other hand, has affected the formation of alternative product markets. As this ban promulgated by the State Economic and Trade Commission is not a piece of laws and regulations, it is not legally binding on companies that manufacture and sell disposable foam plastic tableware.
Transition: Recycling Management According to the “Interim Measures for the Management of Disposable Plastic Lunch Boxes in Shanghai” that came into effect on October 1, 2000, Shanghai is based on the principles of “source control, recycling, gradual prohibition, and encouragement of substitution”, and it has 6 cities in the city. Disposable foam plastic tableware companies' production, sales, recycling and use are managed. After being registered with the administrative department for industry and commerce, the six companies have a principle of “whoever produces, who is responsible, who pollutes, and who administers it.” Each production of a lunch box pays a certain fee for recycling. For other areas where recycling problems have arisen, Shanghai has used economic levers to operate, recovering them at a price of 0.01 yuan per standard lunch box and 2 yuan per kilogram for other disposable plastic tableware. Set up a number of collection points in urban areas such as stations, docks, and airports, and organize special personnel to collect them. The recovered waste is then transported to a designated processing plant, where it is reused for stationery, air-conditioner filtration grids, and other products. According to reports, in the first quarter of this year, Shanghai recovered 57 million lunch boxes.
The elimination of disposable foam plastic tableware is a general trend. Judging from the phenomenon of repeated prohibition, this is definitely a long-term process. As long as the measures are properly implemented and the supervision is effective, it is still possible to reduce or contain the “white pollution”. Although Shanghai did not resolutely phase out, it adopted a transitional approach of “recycling, gradual bans,” and its ultimate goal was to eliminate foam plastic tableware.