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White pollution source punished
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Han Ximin
TENS of millions of white polystyrene(PS) foam food containers and other disposable plastic products at Shenzhen Defengsheng Plastics Co in Bao'an District were sealed up by local authorities this week.
Dozens of manufacturing machines, invoices and documents were also confiscated for further investigation.
This is said to be the largest seizure of foam food containers since the city decided to curb the use of non-biodegradable products. It was said that most PS foam food containers used in the SZ market, known as "white" pollution, are produced by the company.
Law enforcement officials were shocked by the scene at the factory on Sunday after they received a tip about the illegal operation. About 30 workers were busy manufacturing and packaging the foam food containers. According to workers, 400 to 500 boxes were produced and shipped in a normal day. Each box contained 500 food containers, which means nearly 250,000 containers were made each day. At the same time, an estimated 13 million PS foam food containers were piled up in storerooms awaiting delivery. The factory admitted that they resumed production of 50 types of PS foam food containers two months after a Central Government decree which ordered all PS foam container producers to be phased out before December 31, 2000. Most of their products were sold to areas outside SZ. An invoice dated June 8 showed 4,000 boxes of containers were delivered to neighbouring Dongguan and Huizhou cities.
It was told the cost of a PS foam food container is around 0.07 yuan (US$0.008) each, 15 to 30 per cent cheaper than a biodegradable one. Consumers of many fast-food chains and take-out restaurants receive the PS food containers free of charge, a practice which helps make them so ubiquitous.
The illegal PS container-maker was handsomely rewarded for harming the environment. According to factory invoices, the factory earned 140,000 yuan a day.
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