Recycling waste plastics into global hotspots

Plastics are not the enemies of the environment! Plastic is an energy-saving material that can replace other products to achieve energy savings and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. If you do not use plastics, the world’s energy resources will become more intense and air pollution will become more serious. At the 20th Asian Plastics Forum held in Taizhou, Zhejiang, the above viewpoint became a consensus among the participating countries in the plastics industry. However, people in the industry also stated that despite the bright prospects for the development of the plastics industry, it is also necessary to address the growing environmental problems currently caused by the large-scale use of plastic bags and plastic products. National plastic associations believe that the encouragement of repeated use of plastic products and better recycling of waste plastics is the key to the sustainable development of the plastics industry.

According to Dr. Wolfgang Wolfgang, a special project consultant of the EU Plastics Manufacturers Association, from the statistical data of 27 EU member states and 2 non-member countries, the total amount of European plastic waste in 2008 was about 24.9 million tons, of which 63% came from Plastic Packaging.

Wolfgang believes that plastic is a renewable resource and should be given priority in recycling. “Some customers will no longer use plastic bags after they buy them. This is wasteful behavior. People must first change this concept. At the same time, we must also educate the public about the value of plastics. Do not throw the plastic into the environment. Know the role of recycled plastic waste." He said that the EU attaches great importance to the recycling and utilization of waste plastics, most citizens of European countries can consciously classify packaging waste.

Wolfgang stated that plastic products can significantly reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. In particular, the use of plastics in insulation, food packaging, and renewable energy production can achieve significant benefits. Relevant research data show that currently in Europe, the use of plastics is 5 to 9 times higher than that of plastics production and recycling; it is expected that by 2020, the revenue from the use of plastics will be higher than that from production and waste management. And 9-15 times higher.

Wolfgang pointed out that to ensure the sustainable development of the plastics industry, a joint national action plan should be established between plastic producers, processors, retailers and recycling plants. For example, manufacturers need to maintain a good image of plastic, processors should improve product quality, retailers through the plastic bag exchange program to strengthen contact with customers, recyclers for recycling, etc., by improving the use of plastic bags to improve the image of the industry to achieve Win-win. In addition, recycling methods of different waste plastics are not the same, and some can be sent to the factory for reprocessing, some can be used as compost, some can be converted into energy, and some can be biodegraded.

It is understood that in the past 10 years, the EU plastics industry has invested 50 million euros to promote the management of plastic waste, and achieved certain results. According to the quality of waste plastics, the average recovery rate in 2008 was 51.3%, an increase of 1.7% over the previous year. Among them, the recycling of waste plastics in Switzerland is the best and the recovery rate is up to 99.5%; Denmark and Germany are closely followed, with recovery rates of 96.5% and 96.3% respectively.

Japan's recycling of waste plastics is also doing a better job. According to the Japan Plastics Industry Federation, the total amount of waste plastics discharged in Japan in 2008 was 9.98 million tons, including 5.02 million tons of municipal emissions and 4.96 million tons of industrial emissions. 7.58 million tons of waste plastics were recycled, accounting for 76% of total emissions. Among them, mechanical recycling was 2.14 million tons, accounting for 21%; liquefaction/blast furnace was 250,000 tons, accounting for 3%; solid fuel was 410,000 tons, accounting for 4%; incineration and power generation was 3.53 million tons, accounting for 35%; and heating and burning were 1.24 million tons. 12%. In addition, the amount of incineration treatment alone was 1.18 million tons, accounting for 12%; landfill was 1.22 million tons, accounting for 12%.

In recent years, other Asian countries have also increasingly focused on the recycling and utilization of waste plastics. They all believe that reducing the pollution of plastic products to the environment is not just a simple matter that the government prohibits the use of plastic bags, but more importantly, it is necessary to change people's concepts, develop good usage habits, and establish a sound recycling system. For example, the Malaysia Plastics Manufacturers Association has been strengthening its dialogue with federal government agencies, trade associations, non-governmental organizations, academia, and related stakeholders in recent years to educate the public on waste classification and recycling. Under the active promotion of the Malaysian Plastic Manufacturers Association, the state government that first launched the “No Plastic Bag Day” campaign in China began to work with the association to educate the public.

The Philippine Plastics Industry Association also attaches great importance to education for the public. It also pays attention to legislation on solid waste management, negotiates with the government, relevant industrial associations and related interest groups, promotes mobile plastic collection and recycling pilot projects, and plastics recycling technologies, such as Plastic waste conversion energy technology and biodegradable plastic technology.

Since Singapore launched its “Bring Your Own Shopping Bag Day” in April 2007, public education has been used to discourage the use of plastic bags and to foster public awareness of the economy. Many families in Singapore now use plastic bags repeatedly to house household waste. At the same time, in order to reduce the plastic waste from its roots, the National Environment Agency of Singapore signed a "voluntary packaging agreement" with the catering industry in July 2007. The agreement advocates that environmental protection practices have positive commercial significance. Over the past two years, companies participating in the agreement have reduced 2,500 tons of plastic packaging waste, saving SGD 4.4 million. It is understood that the overall recycling rate of plastics in Singapore has increased from 40% in 2000 to 57% in 2009 and is expected to reach 60% by 2012. In the future, Singapore will use more waste plastic bags for waste incineration instead of landfill disposal to reduce its impact on the environment.