A journey of recycling plastic bottles

The Chinese consume 200 billion or more than 5 million tons of plastic beverage bottles a year, most of which are recycled and reused.

How did you do it? Please see- a journey of recycling a plastic bottle

Consumers put empty plastic bottles into smart recycling machines

"Mom, are you going to sell bottles today?" Chen Xiao is almost 3 years old. This Spring Festival holiday, she found herself a new "job": collecting plastic bottles at home. She lives in a community in Shuangqiao District, Chaoyang District, Beijing. A few days ago, a beverage bottle recycling machine was installed in the community. Throw an empty bottle in, and the system will automatically return 0.05 yuan to the user's mobile account. Thanks to the assurance of her mother, Ms. Wang, that "the money for recycling the bottles will be yours", Chen Xiao was enthusiastic. He collected all the empty bottles at home and put them in the recycling machine at regular intervals. The money returned was deposited in her mother's WeChat account. in. Ms. Wang said: "I encourage my child to collect empty bottles, which will enhance herself-reliance and environmental awareness."

This seemingly simple step by Chen Xiao is an important part of China's plastic beverage bottle recycling. Statistics show that with economic development and the improvement of living standards, the number of beverage packages in China has surged. Among them, the annual consumption of plastic bottles exceeds 5 million tons, about 200 billion (approximately 143 per capita), ranking first in the world. In large cities such as Beijing, waste beverage packaging accounts for 40%-50% of the total packaging waste. An astonishing amount of waste beverage packaging such as plastic bottles, if effectively recycled and processed, will generate huge recycling value and become a "local resource". Improper disposal can easily aggravate the "garbage siege" phenomenon.

After more than 40 years of development, China has achieved remarkable results in the recycling and reuse of plastic bottles. The Chinese, who have greatly increased their environmental awareness, are working with the government and plastic recycling industry companies to establish a benign closed loop of plastic bottle recycling, processing, and recycling, so that most plastic bottles can be "recycled". So, what is the specific process of a plastic bottle from production to "regeneration"? How will the plastic recycling industry achieve high-quality development in the future?

Every day, a dedicated person is responsible for transporting the bottles delivered to the recycling machine to the packing station of the sorting center. The staff of the packing station will initially sort the recycled cans and plastic bottles, and pick out the seriously contaminated bottles. Subsequently, the qualified bottles will be compressed into bottle bricks and sent to the recycling factory.

　　In the factory, these bottle bricks will be sorted again according to the color. Due to different materials, labels, bottle caps, and bottle bodies will be handled separately. Non-renewable labels will be intensively processed; after the bottle cap is processed, it will be made into handles, floor mats, etc.; the bottle body will be crushed into bottle flakes. After cleaning with imported alkaloids, these bottle flakes will be melted and pelletized into recycled polyester particles with the same specifications as rice grains. It is understood that a recycling plant processes 50,000 tons of plastic beverage bottles annually, which is equivalent to saving 300,000 tons of oil.

Some recycled polyester bottle flakes can reach food grade, that is, the packaging made of these bottle flakes can directly contact food. This food-grade recycled polyester industrial line is the result of the introduction and innovation, and the treatment of impurities is more stringent. The PET beverage bottle crushing washing drying recycling line of Suzhou Stplas Machinery Co., Ltd. can reach the food grade, and of course it can also be used for filament, short fiber and long fiber grade. Can be customized according to customer requirements.

"Every time we throw bottles, or buy environmentally friendly clothes or cloth bags, we are changing the world." Chang Tao said that about 8 bottles can be made into a T-shirt, which is equivalent to planting 0.16 trees; 14 bottles can be made. Into a cloth bag is equivalent to saving 0.41 kg of oil.

"It is impossible for companies with low-quality products to really pay attention to environmental protection. Only companies with high-quality products can solve environmental problems." With the strengthening of environmental protection, the plastic bottle recycling industry is undergoing a reshuffle, large-scale and standardized recycling companies Will increase, and the technical level and product quality of enterprises will be greatly improved.

Highly intelligent, Internet-connected plastic bottle recycling machine, professional operation team, clean recycling factory... This is rare in many startups engaged in plastic bottle recycling in China, and it is also in common with people’s traditional awareness of recycling companies. The impression of "dirty, messy and bad" forms a great contrast.

　　 Establishing a benign closed loop of plastic bottle recycling is also a goal advocated by environmental researchers. The petroleum industry, plastic bottle manufacturers, filling companies, consumers, and recycling companies are all stakeholders in this industry. A circular chain of "raw materials-products-consumption-recycling-raw materials" should be constructed. This requires the government, Enterprises, the public, non-governmental organizations and many other forces. To solve the phenomenon of "bad money driving out good money" in the plastic bottle recycling industry, and to cure the problem of garbage classification, a complete industrial chain should be established to promote the transformation of the plastic bottle recycling industry to high-quality development.