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

Third, the international has expanded the application of recycled plastics from the practical level

From a global perspective, the synergistic effect of recycled plastics in reducing pollution and carbon has been reflected in the practice of many countries around the world. From the perspective of the goals committed by countries, the international community has begun to promote the application of recycled plastics through mandatory measures such as packaging taxes and carbon tariffs, and the proportion of recycled plastics is constantly increasing.

(1) The global recycled plastics market is in short supply

The global recycled plastics market size was about $37.8 billion in 2018, grew to $44.3 billion in 2021, and is expected to reach $76.5 billion in 2028. At present, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has led to higher energy costs, and the international market demand for recycled plastics will continue to expand. According to statistics, the proportion of recycled plastics in the global packaged goods and retail sectors is rising, and almost all internationally renowned consumer goods brands have made commitments to use recycled plastics.

(2) The proportion of primary plastic circulation has increased rapidly

Developed countries actively explore a variety of methods such as chemical recycling, and greatly increase the proportion of waste plastics recycled into high-quality recycled plastics. The EU issued the EU Sustainable and Circular Textile Strategy on March 30, 2022, which prohibits the physical recycling of plastic bottles into textile fibers, aiming to protect the closed-loop recycling system of plastic bottles and promote plastic primary recycling, and the proportion of plastic primary recycling applications has been rapidly increased.

(3) The concept of recycled plastic consumption is deeply rooted in people's hearts

Recycled plastic products have been more common in foreign countries, Europe attaches great importance to the integration of environmentally friendly packaging into the current consumption mode, such as fast food packaging, prepared food, soft drinks, snacks, etc., the content of recycled plastic in all plastic packaging in the UK has reached 13%. A survey in Germany shows that 95.5% of people no longer buy plastic bags when shopping; 57% of consumers refuse to buy single-use plastic bags; A whopping 72% of consumers support an extra charge for using plastic bags.

(4) Adopt mandatory measures such as regulations to expand the application of recycled plastics

More and more countries are mandating policies that require packaging to use recycled plastics (see Table 2). The European Union requires the proportion of recycled plastics to be increased by four times by 2030 compared with 2015, and Australia has made it clear in the National Plastics Plan 2021 that the recycled plastic content of plastic packaging will reach 20% by 2025.

(5) Promote the application of recycled plastics through international conventions and carbon tariffs

In March 2022, the fifth United Nations Environment Assembly adopted the "Global Agreement to End Plastic pollution Control", and many countries such as France, the United Kingdom, Chile, the Netherlands, South Africa, the United States, Canada, Kenya and India have also formed national plastic conventions and reached regional agreements, which require the increase of recycled plastic components in plastic packaging. At the same time, the Council of the European Union adopted the EU Carbon Tariff (CBAM), which is expected to come into force in 2023, and the plastics industry is also included. The global plastic packaging industry may face the pressure of global conventions and "green trade barriers" brought about by carbon tariffs in the future. As the phased goals of recycled plastic content in various countries continue to be clear, it is necessary for China to formulate corresponding policies, regulations and standards as soon as possible to effectively expand the proportion of recycled plastics.

Fourth, the main problems facing China's expansion of recycled plastic applications

The survey found that although the application of recycled plastics in China has a good foundation for development, the proportion of recycled plastics used in the way of recycled plastics is low, and the original recycling rate of the original grade quality reached after treatment is less than 2%, and there are still policy bottlenecks to expand the application of recycled plastics.

First, at present, the recycling of plastics is mainly degraded. From the current situation of waste plastic recycling in China, it is still mainly linear treatment, rather than multiple recycling. Most plastic products are difficult to re-enter the recycling channel after recycling, and the proportion of plastic primary recycling applications that can be recycled several times is only about 2%.

Second, the primary cycle policy for food-grade plastics has not been clear. PET, PE and other food-grade plastics, which account for the highest proportion of recycled plastics, are currently mainly used for the production of textile fibers, agricultural film, industrial packaging film, or the manufacture of fertilizer bags, garbage bags, agricultural recycled water pipes, geomaterials, etc., and have not yet achieved the original level of recycling. Although a considerable number of enterprises in China have the technical capacity to produce food-grade recycled plastics, they can only export their products overseas without clear policies.