Three ultimate problems of Chinese paper industry and sustainable development



Why is the paper industry a sustainable development industry?

1, paper technology is one of the four great inventions in China, has a history of nearly 2000 years. Paper has provided the material and technical basis for the prosperity and inheritance of Chinese civilization, and has become the most powerful tool for spreading human culture and civilization. The external dissemination of paper making has promoted the exchange of world culture and affected the development process of world civilization, which is a great contribution made by the Chinese nation in the development history of human cultural communication and civilization.

2, per capita consumption of paper is an important indicator to measure the comprehensive economic strength of a country. The level of paper consumption is an important sign to measure the degree of a country's economy and civilization. Paper consumption demand has a direct relationship with a country's economic aggregate and economic structure. Directly and indirectly affect the whole society in all fields. A strong country has a strong paper industry.

3, paper industry is an important basic raw material industry closely related to the national economy and social development. It not only provides functional basic raw materials for industry and agriculture, science and technology, and national defense, but also provides consumer materials for people's culture and life, and is an indispensable and important part of the social and economic chain.

The paper industry chain is long and involves a wide range. The sustained and stable growth of the paper industry has driven the development of upstream industries such as agriculture, forestry, chemical industry, energy and electricity, machinery manufacturing, electronic instruments, environmental protection, logistics, etc., and has also promoted the application of paper products in downstream industries such as cultural communication, printing and publishing, living, health care, business office, logistics and transportation, education and training, product packaging, decoration, industry and agriculture, and national defense.

4, the modern paper industry is a natural green attributes and circular economy characteristics of the industry. Papermaking raw materials are mainly made from natural or recycled plant fibers and other renewable resources, and pulping raw materials use a large number of forestry harvesting residues, board processing residues, discarded agricultural stalks, sugar industry waste bagasse and recycled waste paper. At present, 77% of the main raw materials in China's paper industry come from all kinds of solid waste, about 20% of the energy comes from solid waste, and about 90% of the pulping chemicals come from solid waste generated by the process. At present, the raw materials used in papermaking and the solid, gaseous and liquid wastes emitted from the production process are basically recyclable and recycled, and a complete green industrial system with recyclable resources, low energy consumption, low emissions and natural carbon recycling has been basically formed.

What is the paper industry doing in sustainable development?

1, in the 70 years of development of the founding of New China, especially in the 40 years of China's reform and opening up, China's paper industry has created an unprecedented development miracle. Paper production from the early days of the founding of New China, less than four million tons in the early days of reform and opening up, increased to the current more than 100 million tons, and in 2008 to achieve the total production and consumption of the basic balance, completely bid farewell to the long-term reliance on paper "foreign paper" era. At present, the number of paper varieties produced in China has reached hundreds, which can basically meet the demand of the domestic market. Due to the obvious performance, cost and environmental protection advantages of paper, all kinds of paper have been widely used in industry, agriculture, culture and education, publishing, military and other fields as well as People's Daily work and life. The development of the paper industry guarantees the needs of economic development and the growth of people's better life.

2, in the past ten years, the paper industry has eliminated more than 40 million tons of backward production capacity, the paper industry through technological progress, the application of advanced equipment and the elimination of backward production capacity, the improvement of industrial concentration, for the improvement of resource utilization and environmental governance to provide an effective guarantee, the international advanced papermaking technology and equipment gathered in China, At present, the technology and equipment level of more than 70% of the industry's production capacity has reached the international advanced or even leading level.

3, in order to remove the industry "high energy consumption, high pollution" hat, energy conservation and emission reduction is an important work in the paper industry. At present, the emission indicators of the industry have basically reached the international advanced level.

According to the statistics of industry output data and the statistical annual report of the Ministry of Ecological Environment, the paper industry has achieved outstanding results in increasing production and reducing pollution in the past ten years. From 2006 to 2015, water discharge per unit product dropped from 57.6 cubic meters to 22.1 cubic meters, a decrease of 61 percent, and 78.6 percent lower than 103.4 cubic meters per ton in 1999. Chemical oxygen demand per unit product dropped from 23.9 kg/ton to 3.1 kg/ton, a decrease of 87.1%, and a decrease of 98.5% from 102 kg/ton in 1999 (that is to say, the COD emission of water pollutants per ton of product is only 1.5% of that in 1999;). Sulfur dioxide emissions per unit product decreased from 6.6 kg/ton to 3.4 kg/ton, a decrease of 48.1%, and a decrease of 68% from 10.6 kg/ton in 1999; The comprehensive utilization of solid waste has reached more than 99% of the output, and the discharge of industrial solid waste has dropped from 70,000 tons in 2006 to nearly zero.

4, the modern paper industry has developed into a technology-intensive industry, the industry contains a number of technical fields. It is reflected in high technology content, high automation, high manufacturing accuracy and material requirements, and is developing in the direction of information, data and intelligence. In the past ten years, China has carried out a number of research on key projects of science and technology programs in terms of high-value utilization of plant resources, energy saving and emission reduction in papermaking process, functional application of paper materials, including National science and Technology support program projects, "863" program projects, natural science fund projects, etc., more than 80 research projects, at the same time, Provincial science and technology authorities and enterprises have also set up a large number of technology research and development projects in the field of pulp and paper. According to statistics, from 2008 to 2017, China's paper industry obtained a total of 14,130 domestic patents, of which in 2017 the paper industry to carry out research and test development projects reached 4,373, investment in research and test development funds reached 14.46 billion yuan, the development of new product projects 4537, investment of 14.57 billion yuan.

5, papermaking enterprises are increasingly aware of the importance of social responsibility, through the active performance of social responsibility to enhance the positive social awareness of the papermaking industry, take the initiative to assume social responsibility, actively return to society, participate in local education, culture, science, health, community construction, poverty alleviation, environmental protection and other social welfare undertakings, participate in social charity activities, It provides a large number of employment opportunities for the society, and provides development opportunities and a broad stage for employees to achieve a win-win situation of enterprises' economic interests, environmental interests and social interests. Nine Dragons Paper, APP (China), APAC Sembo, UPM, Hengan Group and other well-known enterprises have won different forms of corporate social responsibility or sustainable development awards at home and abroad.

China Paper Association and all member enterprises jointly formulated the member unit self-discipline convention to protect and improve the integrity of the paper industry management level. It has created a harmonious road for enterprise development and social responsibility to complement each other.

Is the paper industry sustainable in the future?

1, paper and cardboard per capita consumption is an important indicator to measure a country's comprehensive economic strength. China's economic aggregate is large, the population is large, although the current total paper consumption ranks first in the world, but the per capita consumption in 2017 is only 78 kg/year, 20 kg more than the global per capita consumption of 57 kg/year, than the developed countries' per capita consumption of 150-300 kg/year, there is still a big gap. Therefore, the paper industry still has a huge space for development.

2, with the high-quality development of the economy and the growing needs of the people for a better life, the development of the paper industry has pointed out the direction, but also provides a broad space for sustainable development. As long as the paper industry has the characteristics of green, low-carbon, recyclable development into industrial development advantages, the formation of a more scientific and reasonable circular economic system of the whole cycle, the level of sustainable development of the industry will continue to improve, the social image will be recognized by all aspects of society.

The White Paper on Sustainable Development of China's paper Industry released today is based on facts, objectively reflects the development status of the paper industry, and is accompanied by detailed data and cases, which for the first time comprehensively shows the efforts made by China's paper industry in sustainable development in recent years and its contributions to the industry and society. In order to strengthen communication and understanding with the public, eliminate misunderstandings, and promote corporate social responsibility awareness, re-establishing the industry image will play a positive role. In addition, the white paper is also accompanied by answers to some industry questions often concerned by the society, hoping to help the media friends present today and friends from all walks of life who care about the paper and paper industry.