Study On Legal Regulation Of Environmental Problems Caused By Bottled Water

Water is a necessity of supporting the survival of human life. With the development of science and technology, people’s way of drinking water is also constantly changing. The invention of bottled water offers people a great convenience. In China, since the early1990s, due to the convenience plastic bottle provided to the needs of consumers, coupled with strong publicity, especially with the public drinking water quality crisis due to industrialization, consumption trends have promoted the bottled water industry to flourish. But in recent years, the United States, Europe, Africa, Australia, and around the world, people began to question if drinking bottled water brings various environmental issues, and set off a boycotting upsurge of bottled water. Moreover, a nationwide boycott of bottled water which broke out in the United States in2007caused a great response around the world.The author was inspired by a variety of boycotts of bottled water and started to think and to research this topic using all available resources including:accessing the Internet, newspapers, magazines and other relevant sources of information, asking the author’s friends who are in the United States, Europe, Australia, and Africa, consulting experts who are in the field of environmental protection, law, economics, geology, medicine, and chemistry, traveling to neighboring countries and regions such as India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, Macau, Hong Kong, etc. to investigate, and using the questionnaire method, the interview method, etc., further understanding the boycotting of bottled water, the details of environmental issues which occur throughout the life cycle of bottled water, and people’s way of drinking water and environmental awareness, and trying to seek a range of reasonable, effective and feasible solutions of the environmental problems which have been caused by the bottled water from the legal angle.This thesis clarified that the adverse environment affects what occurs throughout the life cycle of bottled water including:the wasting of water resources, causing or exacerbating land subsidence, energy consumption, increasing emissions, environmental pollution, toxic by-products, and private profitability of public water resources, etc., which affect the geological environment, climate changes, marine environment, people’s health and fundamental benefit adversely. In China, conducting legal regulation to resolve the environmental problems which are caused by bottled water is the inevitable requirement to practicing a "people-oriented, comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable" scientific concept of development. It is also an effective way to improve national environmental awareness, and an important reflect of the basic strategy of "Law Ruling". This thesis carries out a feasibility study from the aspect of international experience, similar experiences of China and public opinion. It analyzes the status quo of legal regulation in China involving land subsidence, solid waste pollution, health standards and supervision of drinking water, and integrated problems caused by bottled water. This thesis sums up the various defects such as:the concept of legislation doesn’t meet the scientific concept of development, the legislation of land subsidence is not enough, and also is lacking the consideration of industrial factors, the legal regulation of solid waste pollution is not specific enough.In regards to these defects in the status quo of China relating to the legal regulation of environmental problems caused by bottled water, this thesis puts forward some suggestions:set up the legislative idea according to the scientific concept of development, improve the laws and regulations of land subsidence control, consider industrial factors, refine laws and regulations of solid waste pollution control. These laws and regulations could include:introducing slip laws according to the different and main types of solid waste, defining specific index, improving the detailed implementation rules, and learning from international experience such as Australia and the United States etc., establishing a waste classification system and the environmental deposit system in order to achieve waste minimization, improving the health standards and supervision of drinking water in order to protect people’s health. Environmental problems caused by bottled water are highly comprehensive, coupled with legal and theoretical basis existing in China and the successful international experience, this thesis propose a new view to ban or restrict the sale of bottled water, and argues that this regulation will not bring drinking water problems, lead to a contradiction against economic development, or be unfair to the bottled water industry. Meanwhile, in regards to the difficulties which may be accompanied by the implementation of the ban or restriction of the sale of bottled water include:the problem of bottled water companies’survival, the problem of public drinking water supplies, this thesis propose that provide a chance to transition for the bottled water companies from the time and extent aspect of implementation, strengthen the water health monitoring system, establish a dedicated drinking water system. The final recommendation is to improve the legal system of banning or restricting the sale of bottled water, such as banning the importing of waste plastic bottles.Bottled water is an excessive and wasteful production and consumption pattern. Changing this non-ecological and unsustainable model of economic development is an inevitable trend. More and more countries are beginning to pay attention to it and take a variety of legal regulation measures. China’s legal regulation to environmental problems caused by bottled water is an important manifestation of the implementation the basic national policy of "Law Ruling", and practicing the "people-oriented, comprehensive, coordination and sustainable" scientific concept of development. It also strives to build a resource-saving, environment-friendly society, and coordinate with the pace of international environmental protection. The results explored in this thesis, relating to legal regulation of environmental problems caused by bottled water, is available to a further demonstration and discussion by the public in order to provide a feasible and effective solution of the environmental problems caused by bottled water.