Disposable Chopsticks in China

China's export of disposable chopsticks to Japan has brought some income and created some jobs, but it should also be noted that this industry has brought problems to China. If an adult tree can produce 10,000 pairs of chopsticks, then the more than 20 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks that China exports to Japan would require at least 2.5 million trees and the clearing of hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of forest.

Different from the "thinning" method adopted in Japan, China mostly adopts the "one-day-light" logging method, which should be said to be destructive logging of existing forest resources. Because of the lack of follow-up work on tree planting, what was once a renewable forest resource has become a disposable resource. This is a huge waste of forestry resources in our country.

China's export of disposable chopsticks to Japan is the most typical economic development model of a developing country. That is, to develop the economy, China conducts export-oriented production and development, and the over-exploitation of resources eventually leads to the destruction of the environment. Many countries that once exported disposable chopsticks to Japan have done so.

Many countries have to withdraw from this market because of the depletion of forest resources. Some Japanese manufacturers have also made suggestions to the government, such as restricting imports from China, as disposable chopsticks from China have flooded into Japan. Although the Japanese government used to restrict the import of beef and pork in 1995 and 1996, the Japanese government began to cut the import tariff from 5.2% to 4.7% in 1999, which reflects the attitude of the Japanese government towards the import problem that destroys other countries' resources.

China's boreal forest is being destroyed as chop-making companies in China have to use up huge amounts of wood to meet the demand for Japanese exports. This means that Japan is looting other countries' resources. Questions about China for export of disposable chopsticks, the Japanese government although wildland hall insisted, using construction with wood scraps and thinning wood as raw material to produce disposable chopsticks, not in the destruction of forest resources, but in promoting effective utilization of forest resources, but perhaps in Japan is feasible, in China is likely to be another story. Because "thinning" and using scraps will undoubtedly increase production costs, Chinese companies may withdraw from exporting disposable chopsticks to Japan.

And inferior disadvantages

Packaging of disposable chopsticks are most printed with high-temperature disinfection cleaning and hygiene, but in fact, because of cheap, disposable chopsticks market share is big, so in order to compete for the market, many small businesses are using sulfur smoked, hydrogen peroxide, sodium sulfate soaking, bleaching, talcum powder, and polishing, in order to reduce cost, actually did not achieve the purpose of health disinfection, and polyethylene packaging mold disposable chopsticks bring people's harm is bigger, but the production line down from under the high temperature will produce more harmful ingredients, causes the human body produce a lot of chronic diseases.

Hidden dangers

1. Damage to respiratory function: the production of disposable chopsticks must be fumigated with sulfur, so sulfur will be released when heated in the process of use, eroding respiratory mucosa;

2. Damage digestive function: hydrogen peroxide is used to bleach disposable chopsticks in the production process. Hydrogen peroxide is highly corrosive, causing corrosion to the mouth, esophagus and even gastrointestinal tract;

3. Bacterial infection: the shelf life of disposable chopsticks after disinfection is up to 4. months. Once the shelf life is over, it is likely to bring yellow grape bacteria, escherichia coli, and liver inflammation.

4. disposable chopsticks may also produce the "greenhouse effect", because of the vicious cycle of the relationship, trees less, carbon dioxide will increase, the atmosphere will be thicker, heat is difficult to spread, the "greenhouse effect".

5. disposable chopsticks carcinogenic: experts point out that expired disposable chopsticks contain carcinogen aflatoxin, with very high cancer risk, which can induce the occurrence of liver cancer. Don't look down upon this small disposable chopsticks, but it has a shelf life, after the shelf life it is dangerous goods.

UK media reported

The Daily Telegraph says China's forests are no longer providing enough wood to support the chopsticks industry after more than a billion people used 80 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks a year. Today, China fells 20 million trees a year to meet its demand for disposable chopsticks. China has become the world's largest importer of timber. China must replace chopsticks with knives and forks, the paper said.