Circular Economy and Comprehensive Treatment of Packaging Waste (I)

Abstract: Circular economy is a brand-new economic development mode proposed by human society for the realization of sustainable development. The 3R principle of circular economy has important guiding significance for the comprehensive treatment of packaging waste. Based on the theory and practice of overseas reduction and recycling of related packaging waste, the article proposes a comprehensive treatment method for packaging waste in China, guided by the concept of circular economy.

Keywords: recycling economy packaging waste 3R principle comprehensive management

I. To guide the whole process of packaging waste management with the concept of circular economy

(I) Analysis of the status and causes of pollution of packaging waste

At present, China produces about 670 million tons of solid waste per year. The amount of packaging waste accounts for 3% to 5% of the weight of industrial and domestic waste, but it accounts for 30% of domestic waste. The land that can be used for landfilling is becoming less and less, and it is impossible to dispose of so many packaging wastes, especially plastic packaging, which has caused many serious problems of urban garbage siege. Because those packaging wastes that cannot be degraded in the environment cannot be effectively decontaminated, people's awareness of environmental protection is not strong, and there are no effective countermeasures and measures for comprehensive treatment of waste, resulting in serious waste loss. Among them, plastic packaging waste is light, and it is not decomposed in the environment. It is particularly evident in the lost rubbish, causing serious “white pollution”. The pollution caused by these packaging wastes and the impact on people’s living environment are obvious to all. It stimulates everyone’s senses and not only causes pollution to the landscape, but also causes serious damage to industrial and agricultural production, including occupying land and destroying the soil structure. Causes crops to reduce production; plastic packaging waste that floats in the Yangtze River affects hydroelectric power generation and industrial and civil water diversion, causing water pump plugging; littered animals are swallowed and cause death; a large number of packaging wastes increase the work intensity of the environmental sanitation department and Stress and so on. The reason for this is mainly due to the fact that China's product manufacturing and packaging industries have not paid due attention to the environmental pollution caused by environmental management and packaging waste during the development process, and have not taken favorable measures in terms of waste recycling and other aspects. Measures; Pursuit of high profits, the pursuit of excessive packaging, wasting a lot of resources and energy; did not pay attention to the deep impact on the environment, only from the low cost of materials considerations, a lot of use of the environment can not degrade the plastic materials; the company did not bear Recycling responsibilities have resulted in packaging waste, especially plastic packaging waste, causing serious environmental pollution in recent years, all of which are hampered by the idea of ​​circular economy.

(B) The management of packaging waste should follow the 3R principle of circular economy

The recycling economy is an abbreviation for the material closed-loop liquidity economy. It is an economy that emits less pollutants, and is characterized by emissions of matter, energy, and closed circuits. It refers to the continuous increase in the efficiency of resource utilization in the entire process of human resources, natural resources and science and technology, and in the entire process of resource input, enterprise production, product consumption, and disposal, and increases linearly the traditional and dependent resource consumption. The development model has turned into a development model that depends on the recycling of ecological resources. The establishment of a circular economy depends on a set of behavioral principles that reduce, reuse, and recycle content. Reducing principle belongs to the input control method. Its basic purpose is to reduce the material and energy flow into the production and consumption process to save the use of resources; the Reusing principle belongs to the process control method, the purpose is to extend the time intensity of products and services; Recycling principle It belongs to the control method of the output end, and it can achieve the reduction of the final disposal amount by reusing the waste into the resources to be used again, namely the waste recycling and the comprehensive utilization of waste.

1. The management of packaging waste should follow the "reduction" principle

The principle of “reduction” is the first principle of circular economy. It means that in the product's production area, the product's design, manufacturing process, and raw material use will meet the product's functional performance and durability. The principle of reducing the use of resources and the pollution of the ecological environment may be reduced, that is, the principle of waste source control. For packaging containers, first of all, in the selection of packaging materials, non-shortage resources and recyclable materials should be selected as much as possible; secondly, in packaging design, the number of packaging materials should be reduced as much as possible under the conditions of satisfying the role of packaging. , Save on packaging materials resources, reduce the production of packaging waste from the source. The German production companies save as much as possible when buying packaging materials, because in addition to the cost of packaging materials, Germany stipulates that companies must also pay for the future recycling costs of the packaging materials when purchasing packaging materials. This urges companies to take up and down the packaging design. Kung fu to reduce production costs.

2. The management of packaging waste should follow the "reuse" principle

The "reuse" principle of circular economy refers to the prolongation of the useful life and the number of repeated use of articles as much as possible to prevent the articles from being abandoned prematurely. For packaging containers, when designing packaging containers, priority should be given to the reusable function of the container. In addition, it should also consider its robustness, prolong the service life of the packaging container, and increase the recycling rate of the container if the container is packaged. A doubling of the service life is equivalent to a reduction of twice the packaging waste. For example, in April 2002, Japan's Sekisui Chemical Industrial Co., Ltd. introduced a food delivery container to the market. The number of reusable containers manufactured using this new technology can reach 300 times. Therefore, using such containers, it is possible to use The waste disposal costs for food distribution containers have dropped to around 1%. Like glass, plastic containers, and cardboard boxes, as far as possible, strong and durable packaging technology should be adopted to increase the number of reusable items after recycling, and to prevent waste from being used as waste after one use.

3, the management of packaging waste should follow the "recycling" principle

It is required to re-enter the market or production process by reprocessing (recycling) “waste” as a resource as much as possible to make new products with less use of resources and energy, so as to reduce the generation of garbage. There are two ways to recycle packaging waste. The first is the recycling of primary resources, which is the most ideal resource-based approach. After the recycling of packaging waste discarded by consumers, the same new products are formed. For example, the used packaging paper bags are processed and recycled into new packaging paper bags, and used packaging aluminum cans are converted into reusable packaging aluminum cans. The second is the sub-resources, which is a resource-based approach to the use of waste to produce other products with different properties. For example, the white foam lunch box is a product that the State Economic and Trade Commission issued two notices to stop production. According to reports, a plastic packaging company in Nanhai City, Guangdong Province, has established a recycling mechanism for white foamed old lunch boxes, according to “cutting-cleaning”. - Drying - heating - melting - spinning - slicing process, recycling white foam lunch box material, the product produced by the students used ruler, triangle ruler, living containers. There is a living space for materials that have matured the original production process and are easy to use but are prohibited from use because of environmental protection.

II. Practice and Enlightenment of Reduction and Recycling of Packaging Waste in Foreign Countries

(a) Germany is one of the first countries in the world to advocate legislation for "circular economy". In October 1996, Germany promulgated the "Circular Economy and Waste Management Law," which stipulated the production, sales and use of goods. Responsibility for waste disposal should be borne by manufacturers and consumers associated with the waste; it should be clearly stated that responsibility should be given to the elimination of this source of pollution from packaging waste. The "Circular Economy and Waste Management Law" establishes the principle of minimizing waste generation. The polluters undertake the three principles of governance obligations and government-civilian cooperation, which not only greatly reduces resource consumption but also reduces environmental pollution. The starting point of its legislation is "no absolute garbage, only misplaced resources." The introduction of the concept of circular economy not only enabled Germany's resource recovery and recycling to be fixed in the form of laws, but also created new business opportunities. New industries that specifically deal with “rubbish”—waste recycling and recycling companies have emerged. In Germany, the recycling rate of packaging waste in 1997 was 89%, and the recycling rate was 86%, which achieved very good economic benefits.

(b) Japan In October 1991, the Japanese government enacted the Law on the Promotion of the Utilization of Renewable Resources, amended the Waste Management Act, and actively promoted the recycling of glass bottles, aluminum-iron cans, waste paper, etc., as the legislation for recycling of resources. Work has taken a step. Then, in 1993, Japan implemented the “Energy Conservation and Promotion of Recycling Act”, which resulted in the recycling of 97% of beer bottles and 81% of rice wine bottles. On April 1, 1994, the "Resources Recycling and Recycling Law" was implemented. In recent years, as product packaging waste soared, in June 1997, the Ministry of Health and Welfare for the first time jointly formulated and promulgated the "Product Packaging Classification and Recycling Act," which stipulates that manufacturers of packaging containers or companies selling products with packaging containers There is an obligation to recycle the packaging container and reuse it. On May 26, 2005, the Japanese Senate passed the "Basic Law for a Recycling Society," which aims to reduce waste, achieve complete recycling, and stipulates "producer responsibility", that is, from product manufacturing to product disposal as waste. Producers must bear certain responsibilities.

(III) Revelations

1. Reducing the production of packaging waste by strengthening legislation

Take Germany as an example. At the end of the year in Germany, packaging waste accounted for about 30% of municipal waste. By the early 1990s, it had reached 50%. In response to the growing pressure of packaging waste on municipal waste disposal, Germany issued the Packaging Act in 1991; in 1994, it revised the waste disposal law and formulated the Waste Disposal, Recycling and Environmentally Compatible Disposal Act ( Also known as the "Circular Economy Law." These legislations stipulate that manufacturers and sellers of packaged products shall be responsible for the entire life cycle of the product, and producers and sellers of products and packaging are obliged to recover and dispose of the waste generated by their products, and bear the necessary expenses; regulations for industrial enterprises and commerce The waste generated in the packaging cannot enter the municipal waste treatment system. Germany's Packaging Act and the Circular Economy Act have increased the awareness of producers and sellers of reducing packaging waste, and have also changed people's perception of packaging waste and viewed it as a renewable resource that can be used. To this end, 95 companies in the national packaging industry have established a one-stop packaging and recycling company, the two-way system (DSD), to charge different fees according to the company's packaging output and variety, and to maintain the operation of packaging recycling. Since 1993, it has reduced the consumption of more than 1 million tons of packaging materials in two and a half years, and averaged 56.8 kilograms of packaging waste per person per year; 85% of the packaging waste has been recycled. The amount of municipal waste generated in Germany also began to decline after 1993, and the amount of waste generated was controlled at 1990 levels.

2. Economic regulation of reduction and recovery of packaging waste

Most industrialized countries have adopted a waste charging policy, but at the same time, they actively encourage the recycling of packaging. Special recycling bins are set up in residential areas and public places to facilitate people's input of packaging waste. It is free to put packaging waste into the recycling bin, and pay for the garbage if it is put into the garbage bag. The implementation of such an approach also encourages residents to voluntarily recycle. With regard to environmental impacts on product and packaging waste disposal, the implementation of methods for collecting product handling fees and packaging taxes has become increasingly popular in many European countries. This method has increased the number of products that require special treatment or are not easily recycled. The price has relatively reduced the price of alternative products that are more acceptable to the environment and is favorable to the market. For some packages that are easy to reuse directly, most countries use a package deposit system to encourage recycling through economic incentives. The deposit system is prevalent in some Western European countries.

3. Actively develop green packaging that can be recycled

In addition to the legislative management of packaging waste in foreign countries, a lot of work has also been done on the research of non-polluting green packaging materials. The packaging materials are developing toward energy conservation, low consumption, pollution prevention, and high-functionality, and the development of recyclable ecology. Packaging materials are one of the most important topics in the world in the 1990s. Italy opened in January 1991