3 The formation of a recycling economy
According to the characteristics of circular economy, the packaging industry can operate from the three aspects of composition, operation, and contact.
3.1 The composition of the packaging recycling economy
According to the characteristics of the circular economy model, the packaging recycling economy should be composed of three parts: the clean production of the packaging industry, the recycling of packaging resources, and the efficient recycling of packaging waste.
1 “Clean production†means to use the least amount of green packaging materials and clean energy to ensure that the “three wastes†and environmental pollution are minimized during the production process.
2 Recycling of resources means that packaging products can be recycled many times, and disposable packaging products should be reduced as much as possible. The packaging products with complex structure should adopt a modular design for maintenance and replacement.
3 Efficient recycling of waste means that after the package is used or consumed, it should be classified and recycled, and it should be turned into an available resource to enter a new production process.
3.2 Operational aspect of packaging recycling economy
The operation of packaging circular economy should emphasize three operating principles, namely reduction, reuse and circulation.
1 The reduction is to minimize the extraction and use of packaging resources, reduce the consumption of packaging resources and the generation of packaging waste from the source.
2 Reuse is to increase the number of times the packaging is used, so that the packaging resources can be reused multiple times, increase the frequency of use, and extend the use of time.
8 The cycle is to try to recycle the packaged waste into renewable resources or to convert it into heat and recycle it into society through recycling, when the packaged product is no longer usable. Of course, this cycle must be based on clean production as a basic cycle, the destruction of pollutants in the production process, must also avoid re-contamination when recycling production.
3.3 The connection aspects of packaging recycling economy
The packaging industry is a big industry. Integrating the packaging industry into the circular economy will inevitably involve the inter-organizational level, the enterprise-to-enterprise level, and the interrelationship between the enterprise and society. In order to form a recycling economy for packaging, it is very important to properly coordinate the relationship between them.
1 At the enterprise internal recycling level, it is necessary to develop "clean production" type packaging enterprises, accelerate the implementation of IS () 14000 international environmental management system certification, and work hard to achieve the common goal of producing packaging products that meet the environmental label.
2 At the recycling level between enterprises, we must vigorously develop eco-industrial chains and eco-industrial parks that ask upstream and downstream products, integrate the waste of upstream companies into resource materials for a company, and then integrate the waste of this enterprise into the next one. The cyclical cycle of raw materials of enterprises can achieve the most obvious effect of reducing the consumption of natural resources and reducing pollution to the environment. The construction of a packaging industry eco-park can follow the practice of Guangxi Guigang Eco-Industrial Park. It uses bagasse produced from sugar to make paper, and recycles the alkali in the papermaking process for papermaking efficiently. It does not lightly discharge the serious contaminant produced in the process of sugar production—waste molasses, but concentrates it. The sugar cane compound powder is used as a fertilizer for planting sugar cane, thereby forming a closed production cycle for clean production.
3 At the recycling level between the enterprise and the society as a whole, it is necessary to vigorously develop the recycling industry of old packaging resources; vigorously promote the emphasis on environmental protection and attach importance to resource conservation; adopt moderate packaging and simplify packaging, and consciously classify and recycle green consumption concepts after use. Green consumer market.
Taking the above three operational aspects together, a block diagram of the recycling economy shown in Figure 1 can be obtained.
4 Packaging recycling economy implementation countermeasures
To establish a packaging recycling economy, we must also implement a series of development strategies. This paper proposes suggestions for decision-making departments from the following aspects.
4.1 Promote the transformation of the packaging industry to a circular economy model
Environment (resources) is a contradiction to development. The mere pursuit of quantitative growth will inevitably increase the pressure on the environment and resources. The consequence is that resources are increasingly depleted and the environment is getting worse. Since the 1992 World Summit on Sustainable Development, the loss caused by natural disasters caused by environmental degradation on the Earth has equaled the sum of the previous 40 years; in 2003 China contributed 4% to the world economy, but coal, iron, steel and cement The consumption of such materials accounted for 1/3 of the global total; according to reports, the ecological environment in China is still deteriorating, the scope is expanding, the degree is increasing, the damage is increasing, the overall function of the ecological environment is declining, and the ability to withstand natural disasters is Weakened, the national ecological security is very worrying. Although China's packaging industry has grown at a rapid rate of 18%, the use of resources and the production process are still extensive. As a result, it consumes more resources and has serious environmental pollution. The ecological environment crisis caused by the above conditions must be highly regarded.
To this end, China's packaging industry should reduce the annual growth rate, according to the country's 2004 GDP growth of 7%, the development rate from the original 18% reduced to less than 10%. The macro-control of the industry should guide enterprises to pay attention to the following points.
1 Pursue the increase in the number of products, focus on improving the grades, varieties, and quality of packaging products, especially the quality of environmental protection, and strive to meet the requirements of national environmental labeling certification standards and industrial advanced technology standards, environmental standards, and inspection and quarantine regulations.
2 The main financial resources will be used for the technological transformation around the implementation of cleaner production. For small enterprises that are not capable of "three wastes" treatment, and some township and village enterprises that consume a lot of resources and have serious environmental pollution, they should be forced to shut down and transfer.
3 Intensify efforts to adjust the internal structure of the industry. China's packaging industry consists of packaging products industry and basic packaging industry (packaging machinery, packaging materials); the former has a large number, while the latter is very weak. In order to form an independent packaging industry system in China, policy orientation should be intensified to strengthen the construction of two major industries, packaging materials and packaging machinery. Changing the current high-grade, high-functional packaging materials and packaging machinery with high automation and supporting degree mainly rely on the status of foreign imports.
4 According to the national conditions of our country's resources, we are striving to develop packaging materials with abundant reserves and good environmental performance, such as plant fibers, pulp molding, bamboo plywood, and bamboo pulp.
5 To support a batch of large-scale, technologically advanced packaging recycling and processing enterprises with preferential policies to recycle the packaging resources.
4:2 Formulate environmental regulations for packaging and forcefully recycle packaging waste
The basic feature of the circular economy is the recycling of waste resources. With the economic development, packaging waste is still increasing at a rate of 10% per year. According to the experience of Germany and the European Community, the key to recycling packaging waste lies in the difficulty of recycling; the key to resolving recycling is through legislation requiring packaging manufacturers and sales. The business undertakes the economic responsibility for recycling and imposes compulsory payment and recycling on the packaging waste. After more than 20 years of rapid development in the packaging industry in China, many companies have had endurance in this area. Therefore, the formulation of the “Restriction Law on Packaging Wastes†has basically met the conditions and should become a top priority. Only through legislation can the market be operated as a national recycling system for packaging waste (similar to Green Point in Germany) to promote the formation and operation of packaging recycling economy. If you do not legislate, it is impossible to build a recycling economy.
4 3 Implementing "cleaner production" to reduce waste in the production process
Generally speaking, the pollution emitted by the packaging during the production process is more serious than the pollution produced after it is discarded. For example, pulp and paper in paper packaging, bonding of paperboard, coating production of all barrels, and edging processes, etc. All cause serious pollution to the environment and people. The cycle of circular economy must be carried out on the basis of cleaner production, so cleaner production is very important for the formation of a recycling economy for packaging. China’s National People’s Congress formally promulgated the “Cleaner Production Promotion Law†on January 1, 2003, which will surely promote the formation of a recycling economy including the packaging industry.
Clean production In the three elements of clean energy and raw materials, clean production processes, and clean products, the implementation of clean production processes is the most important. The following guidelines should be followed when formulating clean production processes for packaging products:
1) "Reduction" guidelines aiming at minimizing resource input. The clean production technology of packaging products should minimize the exploitation and utilization of the non-renewable resources. The alternative resources should be used for resources that are poorly resourced in China. By reducing the input of raw materials and optimizing the process to save resources, the “three wastes†The total amount of production and emissions is limited.
2) "Resources" guidelines aiming at maximizing the use of waste. In the "Three Wastes" production process, waste is converted into useful resources and by-products as much as possible. At the same time, the use of efficient collaboration among industry groups has transformed the company's waste into the raw materials of his company, increasing product and disposal. The cycle between things maximizes the efficiency of the use of resources.
3) The “harmless†criteria aim at minimizing pollution emissions. Through the optimization of the technological process, the waste will be recycled and reused for many times to achieve a multi-level recycling of waste and a closed benign cycle of resources to achieve the minimum emissions of waste.
Dai Hongmin Dai Peihua Chongqing Technology and Business University
Source: "Journal of Zhuzhou Institute of Technology"