Waste Plastic Recycling Solutions

China PET bottle recycling line

Plastic Shredder Machine supplier

The fast-growing plastic recycling industry under the "plastic limit order"

On January 16, 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment jointly issued the "Opinions on Further Strengthening the Treatment of Plastic Pollution" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions", which proposes to be recyclable, easy to recycle, and degradable as the orientation, research and development Promote performance-compliant, environmentally friendly, economical and applicable plastic products and alternative products, cultivate new business models and models that are conducive to standardized recycling and recycling, and reduce plastic pollution, and clarify the timetable for banning and restricting the use of plastic products. The first policy The launch is called the upgraded "plastic limit order" in the industry, which has aroused extensive discussion.

 

What changes will the market bring to the market after the introduction of the "plastic restriction order"? How will it affect the future market development of the plastic recycling industry? With these questions, the reporter walked into the Veolia Huafei headquarters factory in Anji, Zhejiang.

 

Veolia Huafei is currently one of the largest manufacturers of recycled plastics in China, with the technical ability to produce food-grade rPET particles. Its business scope includes the classification, cleaning, recycling and further processing, utilization and sales of waste plastics, the production of recycled PET, PP, HDPE and other engineering plastics, which are used in polyester filaments, packaging plastics, automotive plastics, electronic appliances, household appliances, etc. . It owns 4 branches in Wuhan Huafei, Hunan Huafei, Lifu Technology, Hangzhou Silk, etc., with a total production capacity of 100,000 tons of PET bottle flakes and an annual production capacity of 30,000 tons of particles. Passed the global recycling standard system certification in 2016.

 

A market full of development potential

 

What can waste plastic be reprocessed into? The reporter saw at the Veolia Huafei factory that after entering the factory, waste plastics can be processed into different grades of PET flakes and particles after cleaning, purification, slicing, and granulation, which are sold to the PET industry and non-food grade PET. Bottle making, etc. It is reported that the carbon emissions generated by the production process of recycled plastics are only about 1/30 of that of virgin plastics. Veolia said that as a leading global resource optimization management company, the project can well embody the group's development philosophy of "recycling resources and endless growth".

 

Veolia is one of the world's largest environmental service operators, with business scope covering water, solid waste and energy management. Since entering China in the 1990s, Veolia has developed into one of the most well-known foreign companies in the domestic industry, operating more than 80 projects in more than 40 cities in China.

 

But what less people know is that Veolia is also the world's largest supplier of recycled plastic particles, especially with rich experience in food-grade materials. In 2019, its global production capacity of recycled plastic particles reached 500,000 tons, operating 32 factories in 12 countries and regions, of which 6 can provide food-grade recycled plastic products, and provide safe, reliable, and traceable recycled packaging materials for food and beverages . Veolia's PET food-grade recycling process has occupied 25% of the European market. The relevant person in charge of Veolia stated that the plastic recycling industry has great development potential in the future, whether it is internationally or domestically, driven by policies.

 

According to the "New Plastic Economy" of the Allen MacArthur Foundation, the amount of plastic used today is 20 times that of more than 50 years ago, but only 14% of plastic packaging is collected. According to this trend, in 2050, the total weight of plastic in the ocean will likely exceed that of fish. According to reports, in 2018, global plastic production reached 359 million tons, but the recycling rate was less than 10%. In China, in 2018, the total output of enterprises above designated size in the national plastic products industry was 60.4211,500 tons, and the recycling rate did not exceed 20%. Various pollution problems caused by plastics are driving governments and enterprises in various countries to begin to pay attention to the issue of waste plastics, try to reshape the global plastic system, and upgrade the supervision of plastic products.

 

In terms of "plastic restriction", the EU started early in policy design and made many useful explorations. At the beginning of 2018, the European Union announced a plan for recycling plastic packaging, requiring the end of the use of plastic products including disposable coffee cups by 2030. The European Commission stated that it hopes to increase the recycling rate of plastic packaging through the plan to ensure that all plastic packaging can be recycled or reused by 2030. In July this year, the EU Special Summit approved the EU's 2021-2027 budget, requiring the introduction of a "plastic packaging tax" from 2021.

 

Under the influence of the global "plastic limit" trend, major companies in the global plastic consumer product value chain are determined to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated. In January 2019, nearly 30 multinational companies, including Veolia, BASF, Dow Chemical, ExxonMobil, Procter & Gamble, Mitsubishi Chemical, etc., jointly announced the establishment of the "Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW)" to eliminate environmental problems. Of plastic waste, especially plastic waste in the ocean, promised to provide about 1 billion to 1.5 billion US dollars within 5 years to promote plastic recycling.

 

Compared with these developed countries and regions, my country's policies and regulations regarding plastic bans and restrictions and related markets are still in their infancy. However, judging from the timetable for the "plastic restriction order" to ban plastic products, China is benchmarking against developed countries, and a market full of potential is emerging.

 

The developing industry chain

 

At the Veolia Huafei Anji factory, the reporter learned that as a manufacturing company, the factory has to customize raw materials of different grades from hundreds of different suppliers, and the products produced have to be sold to different places and then widely used. Used in textiles, home appliances, automobiles and other fields. From raw materials to products, the factory can ensure the traceability of raw materials throughout the entire cycle.

 

The relevant person in charge of Veolia believes that the Chinese government has made many breakthroughs in plastics industry policies in recent years, which have positive strategic significance for promoting the development of the domestic white resource recycling industry, and will help promote the establishment and improvement of the domestic plastic closed-loop industrial chain. The layout of the entire industrial chain has a profound impact.

 

The source of the industrial chain is waste plastics. Although China is the world's largest producer and consumer of plastics, for many domestic plastic recycling companies, waste plastics used to rely on imports in the past. According to domestic media reports, the world emits about 15 million tons of plastic waste each year, of which nearly half is exported to China. If the portion that enters the Chinese mainland via Hong Kong is included, the proportion reaches 60%. At the end of 2017, my country began to ban the import of 24 types of solid waste in four categories, including waste plastics from household sources, unsorted waste paper, waste textiles, and vanadium slag. With the suspension of foreign waste, the development of the domestic plastic recycling industry has accelerated significantly. Although the "plastic restriction order" may lead to a slowdown in the total growth of waste plastics in the future, strict waste classification and plastic collection methods will increase the recycling rate of plastics.

 

At the same time, at the other end of the industry chain, in addition to internationally renowned daily chemical products, food and beverage brands, in consideration of sustainable development, mass use of recycled plastic products, now there are more and more domestic companies Under the influence of the "plastic restriction order," began to pay attention to and try to improve the recyclability of plastics. From the source to the end, the domestic plastic recycling industry chain is making up for shortcomings and developing rapidly.

 

However, compared with the EU and other regions where the circular economy industry started relatively early, China's plastic recycling market is still at an early stage of development and requires greater R&D investment and policy support.

 

For example, with the advancement of domestic plastic recycling technology, recycled plastics are already very close to virgin materials in quality. Including Veolia Huafei, some domestic factories are fully equipped with the technical capabilities to produce food-grade recycled plastics. China should fully learn from the experience of foreign developed countries, encourage the formulation and application of relevant standards for recycled plastics, increase support for the waste plastic recycling industry from the policy and regulatory level, and flexibly formulate industry subsidies and tax incentives to promote rapid industrial development .


-The above content is reproduced from Polaris Environmental Protection Network


Get the latest price? We'll respond as soon as possible(within 12 hours)

Privacy policy

PET Recycling Machine HDPE Recycling Machine PP PE Film Bag Recycling Machine PP PE Film Bag Pelletizing Machine PET Pelletizing Machine