Capital attempt to curb disposable plastics
北京采取措施，减少一次性塑料品的使用
ON TUESDAY, the top legislature of Beijing passeda regulation on daily disposable garbage, whichwill come into effect on May 1, 2020. According tothe regulation, fast delivery companies, hotels, and restaurants will be forbidden from usingdisposable plastic boxes and bags.
周二，北京市最高立法机关通过了一项生活垃圾管理条例，将于2020年5月1日生效。该条例表示，外卖公司、旅馆和饭店禁止使用一次性塑料盒和塑料袋。
It is common for people to use disposable plastic bags to wrap their breakfast on the way tooffice, get their meals delivered in plastic boxes, and put everything they buy from thesupermarket in plastic bags.
上班时提着一次性塑料袋打包的早餐、用塑料盒装外卖、将超市购买的商品放至塑料袋中在日常生活中普遍存在。
According to a Xinhua report that quoted a garbage processing center, the amount of garbagethe center has to deal with every day has grown by over 2,000 tons since last year, the mainreason for that being the rapid increase in fast food deliveries.
新华社引用垃圾处理中心原话的一份报道表示，自去年以来，该中心每天要处理的垃圾量增加了2000吨以上，主要原因是外卖量的迅速增加。
A look at the data from food delivery companies is more shocking. Ele.me, Meituan and Baidu, the three giants of China's fast delivery food industry, receive about 60 million orders everyday. If each order contains one plastic bag and two plastic boxes, the boxes placed end toend in a line would be 2,400 kilometers long, more than 6 times the distance between theEarth's surface and the International Space Station. The plastic bags laid out together wouldcover 1.2 million square meters, enough to cover 168 soccer fields.
外卖公司的数据更是令人吃惊。中国外卖行业的三大巨头饿了吗，美团和百度每天会收到6000万份订单。如果每份订单需提供1个塑料袋和2个塑料盒，那这些盒子的长度可达2400公里，是地球表面与国际空间站之间距离的6倍以上。而产生的塑料袋可覆盖120万平方米，足足有168个足球场之多。
However, the regulation might need more corresponding measures in order to be effective. According to its current version, the fast delivery companies, restaurants, and hotels mightface a fine of 5,000 to 10,000 yuan ($1,422) if they violate the regulation. But what if theircustomers require them to use plastic containers and bags?
然而，该条例的实施可能还需要采取更多的相应措施。目前的条例规定，如果外卖公司、饭店和旅馆违法，可能面临5000至10000元人民币(1422美元)的罚款。但如果客户要求他们使用塑料盒和塑料袋，又该如何呢?
What if a customer writes, "Two disposable boxes, please" while ordering a fast delivery? What if a customer wants boxes and bags to take away any unfinished dishes at a restaurant?
如果客户在订单上备注“请给我两个塑料盒”，该如何呢?如果客户在饭店用完餐后要求用盒子或袋子打包剩菜剩饭，又该如何?
In order to curb the use of plastics, it is necessary to change people's habits, too. For example, a bonus system could be introduced to reward those who avoid using disposable plastics forone month. With these new measures, combined with the ban, the use of disposable plasticcontainers and bags by restaurants, fast delivery companies, and hotels will hopefully becurbed.
为了限制塑料品的使用，人们也必须做出习惯上的改变。例如，可以引入奖励机制来奖励那些一个月不曾使用一次性塑料产品的人。这些新措施和禁止条例有望限制餐馆、外卖公司和酒店使用一次性塑料盒和塑料袋。
