In the history of science, completely synthetic plastics have been invented for more than 120 years, and plastics have been mass-produced for more than 60 years in the history of industry. The use of plastics today is 20 times that of half a century ago, and it is expected that the production and use of plastics will double in the next 20 years. While people enjoy the convenience of plastic, they are also suffering from the negative impact of plastic pollution on the natural environment and human health. Since the discovery of plastic bags was first reported on American beaches in the 1960s, the problem of plastic pollution has been fermenting step by step. The world’s understanding of plastic pollution has continued to deepen over time. Various forces have interacted to seek consensus on plastic pollution control. Ideas and models have become clear and enriched, and actions have been continuously strengthened. Since the 1990s, many countries have introduced laws and regulations including plastic restrictions, plastic bans, and taxation based on their own national conditions. Since 2014, the United Nations Environment Assembly, held every two years, has called and advocated the global response to plastic pollution. In international multilateral occasions such as the G20 summit, there are also special global issues related to plastic pollution.
At the beginning of this year, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued the "Opinions on Further Strengthening the Treatment of Plastic Pollution" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"). The "Opinions" are of a very high standard. They were reviewed and approved at the 10th meeting of the Central Committee for Comprehensive Reform in September last year. Recently, the nine national departments jointly issued the "Notice on Solid Promotion of Plastic Pollution Control." The promulgation of the "Opinions" has also added a new chapter of significance to the collective action of the world's plastic pollution control in recent years.
Focus on the treatment of disposable plastic products that are easy to leak to the environment
The "Opinions" select some disposable plastic products that are currently used in large quantities, relatively prominent problems, and strong social reactions, and take the lead in prohibiting or restricting production, sales and use in some areas and regions. These categories have one outstanding commonality, that is, they are easy to leak to the environment.
For example, disposable plastic products such as ultra-thin plastic shopping bags and agricultural mulch are convenient and inexpensive to use. These plastic products are usually thrown away when they are used up, which is difficult to recycle and can easily form "white pollution" visible to the naked eye. The "macro plastic" waste leaked into the environment is decomposed and fragmented in the environment, turning into "microplastics" that are not easily detectable. For another example, some plastic microbeads added by washing cosmetics for exfoliating and exfoliating functions enter the natural environment with the sewage system after people use it. The microplastics in the natural environment, especially in the water environment, have a strong ability to adsorb pollutants and will unknowingly enter the human body along the food chain and affect health. Therefore, some people call it "PM2.5 in water".
Looking around the world, disposable plastic products such as ultra-thin plastic bags have always been the focus of the world's plastic pollution control actions because of their easy wear, difficult to recycle, and easy to leak. According to statistics, more than 60 countries have promulgated bans and taxation measures for the use of disposable plastic bags. The Sixth Amendment to the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive issued by the European Union in 2015 can be described as the European version of the "plastic restriction order", requiring member states to take measures to ensure that the per capita annual consumption does not exceed 90 light weights by December 31, 2019 Plastic bags, no more than 40 lightweight plastic bags per capita by December 31, 2025 (The EU defines a bag with a thickness not exceeding 0.05 mm as a "lightweight" bag, and China prohibits the use of ultra-thin bags with a thickness of 0.025 mm) . The EU further proposed in the directive "Reducing the Environmental Impact of Certain Plastic Products" issued in 2019 that 10 types of disposable plastic products such as plastic tableware, plastic swabs, and straws will be banned in 2021. Africa is one of the regions with the greatest ban on plastics in the world. As of June 2019, 34 of the 55 countries in Africa have issued relevant laws prohibiting the use of disposable plastic packaging bags or imposing taxes on them.
Applying the concept of circular economy to carry out the overall comprehensive treatment of plastic pollution
Source reduction is only one link in the policy governance logic. This round of policy measures basically covers the entire process and links of the production, circulation, use, recycling, and disposal of plastic products, and fully reflects the systemicity and integrity of the whole life cycle management. It demonstrates the circular economy concept of "reduction, reuse, and resource utilization".
From the perspective of circular economy concept and macroeconomic and social system material resource management, the existing "social metabolism" model, related resource efficiency and environmental effects still have significant room for improvement. In a sense, plastic pollution treatment under the concept of circular economy also includes comprehensive treatment of the entire plastic value chain including material resource management, which can also be called plastic treatment.
For example, the "Opinions" require the promotion and application of alternative products, cultivating and optimizing new business models and new models, and increasing the supply of plastic green products. For emerging fields such as e-commerce, express delivery, and takeaway, which have rapidly increased consumption of disposable plastic products in recent years, platform companies are required to formulate reductions. The implementation plan is replaced by quantity, and enterprises are encouraged to build a cross-platform operation system for recyclable packaging. In addition, the "Opinions" also put recycling and disposal and source reduction in an equally important position, emphasizing standardizing the recycling and disposal of plastic waste, strengthening the recycling and removal of plastic waste, and promoting the use of plastic waste as a resource.
From a global perspective, China can be said to be a “top student” in waste plastic recycling, not a troublemaker. Taking 2019 as an example, about one-third of China's waste plastics are recycled by materials, a higher proportion is used for energy, and some of them go to landfills. In comparison, the recycling rate of waste plastic materials in the United States has been below 10% for a long time. In 2018, the recycling rate of materials in the EU was about 32.5%, and in 2018, the recycling rate of materials in Japan was about 28%. (The recycling rate of materials in the European Union and Japan includes both local processing capacity. It also includes the processing volume shipped to foreign countries). China is no weaker than developed countries such as Europe, the United States, and Japan in terms of the total amount and proportion of waste plastic materials recycling. The promulgation of the "Opinions" is bound to further increase the proportion of plastic waste resources and energy in China, thereby minimizing the direct landfill volume of plastic waste.
At the same time, China's policy of banning the import of foreign waste has also accelerated the process of re-examining and strengthening plastic governance from the perspective of circular economy in the European Union and Japan. In recent years, the European Union and Japan have successively formulated relevant strategies. The EU proposed in the 2015 Circular Economy Action Plan that “under the guidance of the circular economy framework, prepare a plastic strategy to meet the many challenges in the plastic value chain”, which means that plastics are gradually shifting from waste management to covering the entire plastic value Based on the comprehensive management of the chain, the "European Plastics Recycling Strategy" was issued in 2018. In 2020, the EU's "Circular Economy Action Plan 2.0" has further enriched governance measures for recycled plastics, microplastics, bio-based plastics and disposable plastic products. In 2018, Japan listed plastic as the first of the five resources that need to be recycled in its fourth "Basic Plan for the Formation and Promotion of a Recycling Society" for the first time, and in 2019 it issued the "Plastic Resource Recycling Strategy".
Strengthen scientific and technological support to promote plastic pollution control to a higher level
Science and technology play an important supporting role in the treatment of plastic pollution. The "Opinions" also proposed to carry out research and evaluation of the environmental risks of different types of plastic products throughout the life cycle, strengthen the research on the pollution mechanism, monitoring, prevention and control technologies and policies of plastic waste and microplastics in rivers, lakes and seas, and increase the key core of recyclable and degradable materials. Technological research and achievement transformation, improvement of alternative materials and product performance, etc., promote plastic pollution control through technological progress.
In the medium and long term, in order to form a more complete plastic recycling economy system, in addition to government and social governance, it is necessary to break through key technologies and achieve industrialization. In particular, it is necessary to form a fundamental innovative solution for the plastic recycling at the molecular level in major products and key nodes. . If the large-scale industrial production of plastics is the first revolution of such artificial synthetic materials, focusing on functionality and economy, then the goal of the second technological revolution of plastics should also aim at higher standards of health, safety and recycling. Completely eliminate the negative effects of plastics on humans.
The international community also attaches great importance to technological breakthroughs in the plastics field. This year, an article on the breakthrough progress of plastic recycling technology appeared on the cover of the top journal "Nature" in the field of scientific research and received widespread attention. The European Union has provided substantial funding support for scientific and technological research in advanced plastic sorting, chemical recycling and polymer design improvements, innovative solutions for microplastics' potential health effects and monitoring tools, and bio-based plastics with low cost and real environmental benefits. For example, through the "Horizon 2020" program, more than 250 million euros have been provided to fund research and development areas directly related to the "European Plastics Cycle Strategy", of which about half is used to help develop alternative raw materials. In addition, an additional 100 million euros will be invested through other programs to fund the research and development of smarter and more renewable plastic materials, improve the efficiency of the recycling process, and track and remove hazardous substances and pollutants in recycled plastics. The European Commission will also carry out plastics strategic research and innovation agenda to provide guidance for research and innovation funding after 2020.
China will play an irreplaceable influence in global plastic governance
The world should look at China’s plastic pollution control efforts in a more objective and fair perspective. With the development and progress of society, industry and technology, human beings have enjoyed the benefits of plastics functionality and economy for many years, and now they have reached the stage of emphasizing higher standards of health, safety and recycling. We only have one earth. Every country and every individual should start from now and from me. However, if developing countries are required to do it in one step and only pay attention to cyclicality and give up too much functionality and economy, this is not seeking truth from facts, nor is it completely fair, especially for large plastic producers and consumers like China.
China, as the world's largest developing country, is actively fulfilling its responsibilities as a major country and doing its utmost to achieve a balance of functionality, economy, health and safety, and cyclicality. This should also be a major internal logic of this "Opinion". If this is done well, China will truly achieve a leading role commensurate with its own conditions and status.
On the other hand, China’s plastic pollution control work cannot surpass its own development stage. Only efforts that are in line with national conditions and are committed to balancing functionality, economy, health and safety, and cyclicality will not be too idealistic to float in the air and can really be effective. This should also be a step-by-step and point-by-step approach to the Opinions. The fundamental reason for the implementation of "ban on plastic" and "limit on plastic" in the field.
China's efforts in plastic pollution control will have far-reaching impact. At present, the EU has been actively promoting international cooperation in plastics governance, hoping to play a leading role at the international level, promote the conclusion of a global plastics agreement, and promote the EU's methods in the field of plastic recycling economy. Japan also expects to spread its technology, innovation, and environmental infrastructure on plastics treatment to the world. As the world's largest country in the production and consumption of plastics, China will not only solve its own problems, but will also play an irreplaceable role in the global plastic governance cooperation. The release and implementation of the "Opinions" will be an important key node in retrospect.
Source: Chemical Network
