China Issues a Detailed Standard for Plastic Microbeads Ban

ChemLinked earlier reported that China National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) published the “Opinions on Further Strengthening the Cleanup of Plastic Pollution" on January 19, 2020, laying out a plan to tighten restrictions on plastic products ^[1]. Three goals were set:

By the end of 2020, the production, sale, and use of certain plastics will be restricted and prohibited in pilot areas and sectors.
By 2022, the consumption of disposable plastic products will significantly drop, and their alternatives will be used at a larger scale.
By 2025, China will establish a management system for the production, circulation, consumption, recycling, and disposal of plastic products, make great progress in developing alternative materials, significantly decrease plastic wastes in landfills of key cities, and effectively control plastic pollution.

In the cosmetic sector, the manufacture of daily chemical products containing plastic microbeads is banned from December 31, 2020, and the sale is prohibited from December 31, 2022.

On July 10, NDRC, MEE, together with eight other ministries jointly released the “Notice on Making Solid Progress in Treatment of Plastic Pollution," to ensure the efforts to achieve the 2020 goal. Along with the notice, a detailed standard was issued to further refine the definition and scope of some restricted/prohibited plastic products, including microbeads ^[2].

Specifically, "daily chemical products containing plastic microbeads" are defined as "rinse-off cosmetics, toothpaste, and toothpowder with intentionally-added solid plastic particles that are less than 5 mm millimeters in size and are used for scrubbing, exfoliating, cleansing, etc.” The “rinse-off cosmetics” include shower gel, cleanser, scrub, shampoo, etc.

In addition, the Notice also revealed that provincial-level action plans should be introduced before mid-August this year to further break down the tasks. Provincial capitals, municipalities with independent planning status, and cities at or above the prefecture-level should devise feasible and effective measures in view of their actual conditions to achieve the 2020 goal as scheduled.

Negligible Impact on Industry

The application of plastic microbeads in cosmetics is mainly divided into two categories.

Used as abrasives in rinse-off cosmetics such as facial cleansers, shower gels and toothpaste for exfoliating, smoothing and cleansing the skin; or
Used as bulking agents or film-forming agents in leave-on products such as sunscreens and makeups (foundations, lipsticks) to improve the skin texture, enhance the tinting strength of pigments or increase the adhesion of the powder.

Since China's microbeads ban targets only rinse-off products, it will not have much impact on makeup categories. Regarding the rinse-off personal care sector, the microbead ban is also not a big challenge given that cosmetic enterprises have already had a long time to prepare and have already been phasing out the use of microbeads and finding viable alternatives, such as hydrated silica, walnut shells, coconut shells, oats, corns, almonds, sea salt, coffee grounds, etc.