Plastic pollution is the world's second biggest environmental concern
In the past, shopping in supermarkets and markets, grabbing a plastic bag with fruits and vegetables, was a daily habit of many people. In addition, in recent years, with the rise of online shopping and take-out industries, a variety of colorful plastic bags, lunch boxes, express packaging, etc., have brought great pressure to the ecological environment.
According to a report released by the United Nations Environment Programme in 2021, the cumulative global production of about 9.2 billion tons of plastic between 1950 and 2017. The report predicts that by 2050, the cumulative global plastic production will grow to 34 billion tons, and the annual plastic waste production will be about 300 million tons. Plastic pollution has become the world's second largest environmental concern after climate change, bringing great challenges to global sustainable development.
Once plastic leaks into the natural environment such as soil and water, it is difficult to degrade, causing visual pollution, soil pollution, water pollution, etc. Improper disposal will also affect greenhouse gas emissions and bring lasting harm to the fragile ecological environment. The entry of microplastics into the food chain could also pose serious risks to human health." "Wang Yonggang said.
"Plastic is an essential material in human production and life, and it is neither scientific nor realistic to remove plastic from our production and life." Wang Yonggang believes that in the face of potential plastic pollution risks, it is necessary to strengthen the recycling and utilization of plastic waste and develop a plastic circular economy.
Promoting the whole life cycle control of plastic pollution contributes to "Chinese wisdom"
Faced with the increasingly severe plastic pollution problem, China continues to strengthen the recycling and utilization of plastic waste, actively develop the plastic circular economy, promote the whole life cycle management from the production, circulation, use, recycling, disposal and other links, and explore the coordinated development of plastic use and ecological environmental protection.
"Sorting and recycling is a key part of plastic recycling." Wang Yonggang introduced that the Chinese government has introduced a series of incentive measures such as investment, finance and taxation to regulate and guide the recycling of plastic waste and promote the green, low-carbon and circular development of the plastic industry. Under the promotion of the government, enterprises and the public have participated extensively, forming a comprehensive recycling system.
China has established a complete waste plastic recycling system composed of recycling outlets, sorting centers, processing and utilization factories, and has used the Internet, the Internet of Things and other technologies to innovate recycling modes, promoting the "integration of the two networks" of the garbage classification network and the recycling network of renewable resources, with remarkable results.
In the process of classification and recycling, for PET (polyethylene terephthalate) beverage bottles, HDPE (high-density polyethylene) daily product packaging barrels (bottles), PP (polypropylene) plastic lunch boxes and other plastic packaging waste with certain economic value, China adopts a "special recycling" model, and has established a huge recycling network covering cities and villages. Basically, it can achieve the "receivable" of waste plastic bottles. For plastic pesticide bottles and mulch and other plastic waste that is widely used, difficult to collect, and has a high risk of environmental leakage, China adopts a "compulsory recycling" model, and has formulated the "Agricultural film Management Measures" and "pesticide packaging waste recycling management Measures" to stipulate the recycling obligations of producers. At present, there is a new model of third-party professional company operation and management, using the deposit system to recover pesticide bottles. For low-value plastics with high recycling costs such as plastic bags and plastic packaging films, the mode of "integration of two networks and unified recycling" is adopted to classify and recycle with other household waste.
At present, China's waste plastic recycling and recycling capacity and output rank first in the world, the number of enterprises engaged in waste plastic recycling and recycling exceeds 15,000, and the scale of relevant employees is about 900,000. In 2021, the material recycling amount of waste plastics in China is about 19 million tons, with a recovery rate of 31%, which is nearly 1.74 times the global average material recycling rate of waste plastics, and the recycling capacity accounts for about 70% of the world, and 100% of the domestic material recycling has been achieved. In the same period, the recycling rates of domestic waste plastics in the United States, the European Union and Japan were only 5.31%, 17.18% and 12.50%, respectively.
In the process of plastic pollution control, more and more consumers take the initiative to choose environmentally friendly products, bring their own toiletries when traveling, and refuse to over-package goods, gradually forming a new trend of green consumption. In daily life, consumers actively participate in garbage classification, do not litter plastic waste, and hand recyclable plastic waste such as recyclable beverage bottles to specialized recyclers to help the recycling of plastic waste. There are also many schools to carry out "plastic pollution control" publicity activities, so that the concept of green consumption "from generation to generation".
The establishment of a "plastic pollution control community" accelerates the process of global governance
China has gradually explored an effective path to solve plastic pollution through the development of plastic circular economy by vigorously carrying out the whole life cycle control of plastic pollution, green industry system cultivation, green technology and business model innovation, green consumption advocacy, and multiple co-governance, and its practice and experience have further improved and strengthened the control of plastic pollution. Promoting global cooperation on plastic pollution control has important reference value.
"Plastic pollution is a common challenge facing humanity, and no country can avoid it." Wang Yonggang said that, therefore, it is necessary to establish a sense of a community of human destiny, and the world should unite to take positive actions together to form a "plastic pollution control community" with extensive participation of various countries and regions.
At present, the world's major economic powers and population powers are significantly banning, limiting, and replacing the use of plastic products, and strengthening the recycling of plastic waste. "Countries need to exchange experience, strengthen cooperation and provide more references for each other, which will greatly accelerate the process of global plastic pollution control." "Wang Yonggang said.
In some less developed countries and regions, the plastic waste collection and treatment infrastructure is very unsound, the plastic recycling rate is relatively low, and the risk of environmental leakage is large, which has become the short board of global plastic pollution control. In this regard, Wang Yonggang proposed that the export of "plastic waste" should be banned to these countries and regions that do not have better recycling conditions. At the same time, developed countries and international organizations should provide them with appropriate assistance in terms of capital, technology, management and human resources. In some less developed countries and regions, the plastic waste collection and treatment infrastructure is very unsound, the plastic recycling rate is relatively low, and the risk of environmental leakage is large, which has become the short board of global plastic pollution control. In this regard, Wang Yonggang proposed that the export of "plastic waste" should be banned to these countries and regions that do not have better recycling conditions. At the same time, developed countries and international organizations should provide them with appropriate assistance in terms of capital, technology, management and human resources.
