China's packaging waste recycling system and regulations (3)

2. Discussion of the structure of packaging waste recycling system into its operating mechanism

The packaging industry is a cross-sector and cross-regional industry. The establishment of a recycling system for packaging waste in China should be based on laws and regulations. The packaging industry, national environmental protection agencies, and national environmental sanitation departments should coordinate with each other to regulate the behaviors of packaging producers, commodity producers, sellers, and consumers. The status, responsibilities and obligations of packaging producers, commodity producers, sellers and consumers in the system, as well as the management of packaging waste recycling and packaging waste disposal. In addition, the establishment of a packaging waste recycling system also requires resources and technical input.

The national environmental protection department specifies that the commodity producers should bear the disposal costs of packaging waste. The packaging industry authorities perform environmental assessments based on the packaging manufacturer's packaging. Commodity producers apply to the environmental protection department for “environmental signs”. The environmental protection department collects fees for the environmental evaluation results of the packaging according to the competent department of the packaging industry. That is, the commodity producers pay for the disposal costs of packaging waste by paying the “environmental packaging mark” usage fee. . The packaging that has obtained the "Environmental Mark" will be included in the unified packaging waste recycling system after disposal. In addition, the transport packaging and sales packaging that producers, sellers and consumers will use should be stored in categories for recycling by the sanitation department.

The sanitation department and the packing waste sorting and recycling department or organization shall not only provide classified garbage bins and transportation equipment, but also transport the classified packaging wastes to the recycling station for sorting and packing, and finally to the packaging waste disposal system for separate processing. Reuse of reuse, renewable, transported to various recycling plants (such as plastic recycling plants, aluminum recycling plants, glass plants, and paper mills) for recycling, and public waste that cannot be reused or recycled is burned to use the heat energy generated by it. Or landfill treatment. At the same time, the environmental sanitation department feedbacks information on the disposal of packaging waste to the environmental protection department, so that the environmental protection department can provide reasonable opinions and suggestions on related laws and regulations, improve laws and regulations, and improve the entire packaging waste recycling and treatment system.

In the initial stage of system implementation, this will result in an increase in product costs, but the environmental labeling system will charge licensing fees based on the weight, volume, and reuse of waste packaging, the value of recycling, and the degree of environmental pollution caused by packaging waste. This will encourage packaging producers to develop resource-saving materials, facilitate the recycling of new materials, and encourage product producers to rationally design packages to avoid over-packaging. The packaging industry and the sanitation department are actively developing packaging waste disposal technologies in order to obtain more benefits from packaging waste. In the long run, these measures will help reduce product costs. More importantly, it will produce good social benefits - saving resources, energy, and reducing environmental pollution.

3. Improve and improve the external conditions of packaging waste recycling system

3.1 Formulate regulations for packaging waste, strengthen national macro-management

The methods developed by the developed countries on "the economy depends on the market and the environment depends on the government" are worth learning from. With limited economic levels and people’s environmental awareness is still weak, strengthening the government’s macro management, formulating relevant laws and regulations, and integrating economic measures such as taxation, product prices, corporate credit, and recycling transaction indicators are effective for the successful recycling of packaging waste. Means and guarantees. On the one hand, to strengthen management and restraint: For the treatment of packaging waste, even if China cannot implement the policy of “first polluting and then rectifying” in developed countries, it cannot implement high investment and high-tech control. On the other hand, state-to-business production needs some intervention and macro-control is the guarantee for the correct disposal of packaging waste.

The existing "General Principles for the Handling and Utilization of Packaging Waste" is a very important basic standard in China's packaging standardization work. However, it is difficult for China to provide similar recovery rates and quantified values ​​as set out in the EU regulations or German regulations at this stage. With respect to recycling systems, the General Regulations does not stipulate the consequences of non-compliance and the quantity standards that should be recovered. There is not much restriction on the responsible person. Only the responsible person's recovery of the packaging waste of goods is a self-issued product. It is necessary mandatory, so it should be clearly stated that the principle of "whoever pollutes, who is responsible for packaging, who is responsible for the disposal of wastes" and the consequences of those who do not perform their duties. In addition, articles 17 and 18 of the "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution Caused by Solid Wastes" clearly stipulate that producers, sellers and users of products should, in accordance with relevant state regulations, recyclable product packages and containers, etc. Recycling, but there are no specific regulations for recycling and use.

Therefore, the regulations for packaging wastes should implement “prevention-based, prevention-control combination” and “whoever pollutes”, clarify the specific responsibilities of related parties, and point out the packaging waste recycling targets and related specific recycling regulations and recycling targets.

3.2 Strengthen publicity and education and establish a sense of participation

To establish a packaging waste recycling system, we must first mobilize the public to collect and recycle packaging waste. Only the active participation of the public can achieve the classification of packaging waste. The United States divides plastics into seven categories so that residents can choose to recycle. In many countries, different colored bins are placed on the street, and different types of garbage are placed in different categories. In China, practical waste classification methods should also be adopted, which is the premise for recycling packaging waste.

The long-term plan for raising people’s awareness of environmental protection lies in the conduct of environmental education in the entire society. There are two ways to improve environmental awareness: first, to improve naturally with the improvement of living standards, and second, to catalyze the outside world. Developed countries have high awareness of environmental protection and belong to the former situation. However, our country currently has to rely on environmental protection education for all citizens to promote public awareness of environmental protection. Environmental education is not only carried out in the production field, but also in schools, national economy, and various fields. Throughout a person's life, the sense of environmental awareness and public participation goes beyond the waste disposal itself.

Fourth, the conclusion

China's resources and energy are in short supply, and the accumulation of waste has been increasing, forcing the packaging industry to adhere to the “recycling-oriented” development model. Not only that, the recycling of packaging waste also has environmental protection, rational use of natural resources and harmonization of ecological benefits and economic benefits and important special significance. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a scientific and reasonable recycling system based on the market, and to strengthen the construction of legal regulations on packaging waste and the country's macro-control, of course, also need to improve the people's awareness of environmental protection.

Protecting the ecological environment is the common responsibility of all humankind today. For the packaging industry, it can be said that packaging waste is an important source of pollution to the environment. Based on this, China must not only make effective use of packaging resources, but also expedite the development and research of green packaging new materials and new products. This is in response to the objective needs of the "green revolution" wave sweeping the globe. We must also soberly realize that the “green revolution” is both a historical necessity and a wise move for mankind to explore self-survival, but it is also a major change in concepts, materials, production, and consumption.

---China Packaging

Guo Caifeng School of Environment, Renmin University of China Xu Bo Institute of Polymer Composites, Zhejiang University