Shanghai Mandatory Waste Classification, Our War with Plastic Waste has just begun

Shanghai Mandatory Waste Classification, Our War with Plastic Waste has just begun

From July 1, 2019, it is illegal to throw garbage in Shanghai without classifying it. According to the relevant regulations of Shanghai, the maximum penalty for mixed garbage thrown by individuals is 200 yuan, while the maximum penalty for mixed transportation by units is 50,000 yuan.

In fact, from director Wang Jiuliang's film "Garbage Besieged City" in 2010, to China's strict ban on foreign garbage entry from the end of 2017, and now Shanghai has entered the era of compulsory garbage classification. Plastic garbage, electronic garbage, e-commerce garbage... There is still no efficient system for the disposal of these garbage wastes. The garbage war we need to face is just beginning.

Plastic waste is the main source of pollution in water, soil and ocean. Plastic which is difficult to degrade is the number one enemy in the field of garbage disposal. Nine billion tons of plastics are consumed, and more than 90% are not recycled. The raw material of plastics is extracted from petroleum and coal. As a synthetic petrochemical product, it takes 400-500 years for plastics to degrade into harmless substances to nature and biological chain.

The popularity of plastic products is accompanied by the development of petrochemical technology, industrial production and commercial consumerism. Plastic products are widely used, from film in farmland, common materials in modern industry, to packaging of consumer goods, can be said to be everywhere. However, the vast majority of plastic products have not been effectively utilized and recycled, so we will not only find more and more plastic waste in marine organisms, but also begin to be polluted by plastic particles in human drinking water.

According to a recent report released by the World Wide Fund for Nature, people consume about 5g of plastic a week, equivalent to the weight of a credit card. Every year, they consume as many as 102,000 plastic particles from drinking water, shellfish, beer and salt. Plastic waste is a kind of solid waste which is extensive, large in quantity, difficult to treat and extremely harmful. In 2018, the Royal Society of Statistics published an annual figure of 90.5%, which is the proportion of plastic waste that is not recycled in the world. This number was selected from more than 200 nominations, reflecting what the public considers urgent social issues to be addressed.

▲The orange yellow line indicates plastic waste imported into China in 2016

Over the past two decades, China has been the world's largest importer of foreign waste, receiving 106 million tons of foreign waste, including more than 45% of the world's plastic waste. China also began enforcing a strict ban on foreign garbage in 2018.  

In the takeaway industry alone, about 60 million plastic lunch boxes are consumed every day in China, producing 350 tons of plastic waste every day, and more than 120,000 tons of waste a year.

How do we deal with the plastic?

At present, there are four main ways to treat plastic waste in the world: incineration, landfill, regeneration granulation and chemical pyrolysis.

1.Incineration

▲Waste Incineration Power Plant

Incineration is still the traditional ways which account for a large proportion at present. Incineration can produce gases that pollute the environment. Even if it is used to incinerate power generation, it can only produce some thermal benefits, but it can not reflect the value of petrochemical energy of plastic waste itself.

2.Landfill

▲Hong Kong New Territories West Landfill Site, 250 hectares

Landfill is the least technological waste disposal method. It not only occupies land, but also produces landfill waste liquor and landfill gas, resulting in secondary pollution.

3.Recycling granulation 

▲ Output of plastics after regeneration and granulation

Recycling granulation is a new disposal methods of plastic waste, which can create economic value and reduce environmental pollution. It is a physical method of recycling plastic waste, by processing recyclable plastic into particles, and then using these particles to make new plastic products. The quality of recycled plastic products will be worse than before, but it still has a certain use value.

4.  Chemical pyrolysis

Chemical pyrolysis is a method of chemical recovery. By utilizing the instability of organic matter in plastic waste, these plastics are chemically decomposed and converted into fuel, combustible gas, solid fuel and other energy products with high added value.

Summary：

Generally speaking, we can not completely abandon plastics in industrial production and daily life. In order to minimize the environmental hazards in the use process, the key is to reduce the use, reuse, reasonable recycling, effective utilization, and the development of alternative materials.

New technologies can bring new possibilities for plastic pollution control. However, as consumers, we can reduce the use and reuse, and classify when discarded, so the subsequent waste disposal will be more convenient and efficient.

The current situation is that garbage classification is still in its infancy, and our war with plastic garbage has just begun.