The People’s Republic of China Circular Economy Promotion Act was signed into law by President Hu Jintao on 29 August at the closing of the fourth session of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People’s Congress (NPC).

This law, which was ratified after its third reading, will be effective as of 1 January 2009.

PackWebasia.com first reported on the China Circular Economy Law in its coverage of China’s Packaging Master-plan – the Method for Administration on Recycling Packaging Materials - explaining the implementation of the Method as part of the country’s push towards a circular economy.

This Packaging Master-plan will comprise of a suite of legislation that will restrict, recover, recycle and reuse all packaging materials. Some materials and processes will be banned completely, while the usage of others will be severely restricted.

The passing of laws this year involving the usage of plastic shopping bags, and the ban on the import of waste plastic packaging material are just some examples of legislation born out of the Packaging Master-plan, which dictates the role of the packaging industry in the establishment of a circular economy.

A NPC Standing Committee member, Ni Yuefeng said that the ratification of the Circular Economy Law was a significant step in establishing an energy-saving and environment-friendly society.

"Developing a recycling economy will help the country to achieve a maximal economic efficiency through a minimal energy consumption and emissions," said Ni.

Under the new Circular Economy Law, economic development is to be carried out through ‘the efficiency of resource use and sustainable development’ (Article 1). This covers the entire economic cycle, including ‘the processes of reduction, reuse and recycling activities throughout production, circulation and consumption’ (Article 2).

The Law proceeds to explain that all waste products should be reprocessed and ‘continue utilization’ as the materials for either a similar or completely different production.

All local governments are ‘responsible for the organisation, coordination, supervision and management’ of the Law in their respective municipal districts. This includes the development of a recycling system, which industry associations are ‘encouraged and supported’ to assist in by giving ‘technical guidance and services’.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection and ‘other relevant departments’ have been assigned to be the overall in-charge of the management and supervision of the implementation of the Circular Economy Law. Governments at all levels should also draw up plans for the establishment of systems to control energy use and pollutant emissions, and create policies to divert capital into environment friendly industries.

The government has set a target of reducing energy consumption per unit of GDP by 20% and major pollutant emission by 10% from the 2005 levels by 2010.

According to local newspaper Xinhua, currently the average energy consumption per unit produced for high-energy-consuming industries, such as steel, electric power and cement is 20% higher than the average in developed countries.