Beijing Industry Associations Jointly Refuse Disposable Chopsticks

The Beijing Consumers Association, Beijing Catering Trade Association and Beijing Quality Association have jointly issued a proposal, calling on businesses to limit and refuse the use of disposable chopsticks, and for consumers to change their lifestyles to match this new environmental awareness.

The three associations call on all restaurants and food companies of the capital city to voluntarily stop the purchase of disposable articles. They say consumers should increase their awareness of environmental protection, change their lifestyles, and refuse to use disposable products.

A representative from the Beijing Quality Association tells local media that the use of non-disposable food utensils has caused an increase of cost for restaurants and food companies. However, he says many consumers also prefer using disposable chopsticks because they do not trust restaurants' disinfection efforts . These are the two major barriers in canceling the use of disposable food utensils.

A representative from Beijing Catering Trade Association says that the difficulty in removing the disposable chopsticks from tables is caused by the inadequate awareness of environmentalism among businesses and consumers, so it will take some time before these unfriendly articles are completely eliminated.