The plastic industry to reduce pollution and carbon urgently need to increase the proportion of recycled plastics

The plastics industry is one of the typical high-emission and high-pollution industries, and it is also a potential field for China to achieve synergies in reducing pollution and carbon. As an important material in people's production and life, plastic has high efficiency and wide application range, and there is no other material that can fully replace it. The environmental benefits of degradable plastics are significant, but they are still in the initial stage of development, the production cost is high, and it will take time to achieve full market promotion. In this context, expanding the scale of plastic recycling is a more economical and feasible path in the short term.

Recycled plastic refers to the plastic raw materials obtained after the waste plastic is processed by physical or chemical methods such as pretreatment, melting granulation, modification, etc., which has the characteristics of pollution reduction, carbon reduction, and great recycling advantages. Therefore, strengthening the policy guidance of the application of recycled plastics, improving the recycling rate of waste plastics, and expanding the application ratio of recycled plastics are of great significance for the plastics industry to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality.

First, expanding the application of recycled plastics is crucial to jointly promote pollution reduction and carbon reduction

One is to reduce plastic pollution. More than 60 million tons of plastic waste will be produced in China in 2020, and about 70% will be landfilled or incinerated, which will not only cause groundwater and soil pollution, but also release toxic gases to endanger health. Expanding the proportion of recycled plastics will effectively improve the recovery rate of waste plastics and reduce pollution from the source.

Second, it can reduce dependence on oil resources. It is estimated that in 2021, the consumption of oil in China's plastics industry is as high as 200-400 million tons. Each ton of recycled waste plastic can replace about 0.67 tons of resin raw materials, which can save about 1 ton of oil resources. At present, China's waste plastic stockpile is about 1 billion tons, such as increasing the application of recycled plastics, will help reduce China's oil resources dependence on foreign countries.

Third, it can reduce carbon emissions. In 2021, China's primary plastic production of 110 million tons, according to the production of 1 kg of plastic release 2.3 kg of carbon dioxide estimates (excluding upstream raw material production of carbon emissions), the plastic industry released at least 254 million tons of carbon dioxide, accounting for about 2% of China's total carbon emissions. Compared with the original plastic, the carbon emission of producing 1 kg of recycled plastic is only 1.4 kg, which can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 0.9 kg, and the carbon reduction ratio is 39%.

Second, the application of recycled plastics in China has a good foundation for development

First, China's waste plastic production is still in a period of growth. The production of primary plastic products and waste plastics in China has been increasing in recent years (see Figure 1). In 2019, China's per capita plastic consumption was 58.45 kg, which is still a large gap with the per capita 130 kg in the United States, and there is still a large room for plastic consumption to rise due to the impact of the epidemic in recent years.

Second, the competent departments and industry associations have gradually formulated corresponding standards and norms. Since 2019, China has started the development of technical standards for recycled plastics, and up to now, eight standards such as polyethylene (PE) material and polypropylene (PP) material have been established. As a key industry association, the Plastic Recycling Branch of the China Synthetic Resin Association (CPRRA) is also actively organizing the preparation of a series of standards for the Design Guide for Recycling and recycling of Plastic Products, which provides guidelines for enterprises to improve product design and promote recycling and recycling.

Third, the production technology of recycled plastics has been more mature. At present, four domestic enterprises have been assessed by the FDA and obtained food grade recycled plastic production certification. The successful practice of the enterprise has confirmed that there are no obstacles in the production technology of recycled plastics in China, and the primary recycling technology of plastics has been successfully operated by enterprises for more than ten years.

Fourth, the international environment requires enterprises to increase the proportion of recycled plastics. Affected by the EU carbon border regulation mechanism, plastic tax and the UK plastic packaging tax, the cost of export products of foreign trade enterprises has increased, and the economic benefits of enterprises have decreased. In response to the strict environmental standards set by developed countries, Chinese enterprises need to produce products containing recycled plastics as required, and the demand for high-quality recycled plastics is increasing. In addition, Chinese consumers have a high acceptance of plastic recycling, according to the survey, 13.17% of consumers will reuse plastic empty bottles themselves. 60.22% of consumers choose to sell waste products to enter the recycling link.