The Circular Economy of Packaging Industry at Home and Abroad (I)

I. Overview of Circular Economy

The so-called circular economy is an economy that integrates the comprehensive utilization of clean production and waste. It is essentially an ecological economy. It requires the use of ecological laws to guide the economic activities of human society. Therefore, circular economy is an economic development model that promotes harmony between man and nature.

The laws of the world economic development process show that when the per capita GDP of the region is at the stage of US$500, it often corresponds to the period when the bottleneck of population, resources, and environment is the most severe. These regions have a dense population, rapid economic growth, and relatively insufficient resources. The contradiction between the ecological environment, natural resources and social and economic development has become increasingly prominent. Only by achieving the coordination of economic development, resource development and utilization, and environmental protection can sustainable development be possible. This must take the path of circular economy based on effective use of resources and protection of the environment.

There are major differences between the circular economy and the traditional economy. From the perspective of material flow, the economy of the traditional industrial society is a linear economy with one-way flow, namely, "resource-production-consumption-waste discharge." The growth of the linear economy relies on large-scale exploitation and consumption of resources, as well as excessive destruction of the natural ecology and environmental pollution. The circular economy advocates an economic development model based on the continuous recycling of materials. It is required to organize economic activities into a process of “resources-production-consumption-renewable resources” in accordance with the model of the natural ecosystem and the process of repeated circulation of substances, so that the entire economic system and the production and consumption processes are basically not produced or only produced. Very little waste.

In short, circular economy uses natural resources and environmental capacity in accordance with ecological laws. The theory of circular economy is a "win-win" theory of economic development and ecological environmental protection. It is a fundamental transformation of the traditional growth model of "mass production, mass consumption, and mass disposal", and proposes a new economic model in which resources and ecological environment are integrated and developed.

The circular economy requires "3R" as the code of conduct for social and economic activities. The "3R" principle aims to reduce the quantity of substances entering the production and consumption processes, where "reduce" is to save resources and reduce the emission of pollutants; "reuse" requires the product and packaging containers to be repeated several times. Use to reduce the environmental pollution of disposable products; "Recycle" requires the item to become a renewable resource after the use function is completed.

In practice, circular economy should be implemented at three levels. The first is the material circulation within the company. In the production process of the enterprise, the discharge of pollutants is reduced until the purpose of zero-emission circulation protection is achieved. The second is the mid-cycle at the regional level, where a number of interconnected companies are built in one park (ie, an eco-industrial park). The park combines a series of interconnected eco-industry chains in accordance with the requirements of the development of the eco-industrial chain. The exchange, recycling and clean production of waste between companies and industries reduces or eliminates waste emissions. The third is the big circle on the social level, that is, the entire country and society formulate relevant laws and formulate various rules in accordance with the requirements of circular economy, and realize clean production, clean consumption, recycling of resources, and purification of the environment. This includes the material cycle of the entire process of production and consumption.

Second, the introduction of foreign recycling economy

With the reduction of the earth's resources and the intensification of the environmental crisis, developed countries continue to explore new economic development models and vigorously develop economy. Since the concept of “circular economy” was proposed in the 1960s, it has been developed in Western developed countries for more than 40 years. In Germany, France, the United States, and our neighbors, Japan and South Korea have developed to a fairly mature level. Stage, and has produced huge economic and social benefits. Their policy measures and advanced experience are worth learning from.

Germany is one of the countries with the highest level of circular economy development in Europe. The German government has adopted very strong policies and measures to promote the development of circular economy. The “Circular Economy and Garbage Disposal Law” passed in 1996 created a favorable legal environment for the development of the German circular economy. The main purpose of the law is to promote the development of a recycling economy and ensure that waste is reused to the maximum extent possible. This approach of the Germans has just begun to be ridiculed by the people of other European countries and is now actively being followed. German companies have taken the development of circular economy as a part of their own solidarity and actively made outstanding achievements, because this will greatly enhance the company's reputation. Thanks to the close cooperation between the government, enterprises and nationals, the circular economy has developed into an important industry in Germany. Official statistics show that the German waste recycling industry needs to create 41 billion euros worth of value every year. In Germany, the proportion of waste generated from all production industries is reused at an average of 50%, or even 80%. In Germany, the concept of the word “rubbish disposal” refers to the fact that garbage is reused as much as possible, instead of being simply landfilled and destroyed.

Sweden attaches great importance to the recycling of waste packaging. In 1994, the Swedish meeting formally established the “producer responsibility system” for the recycling of wastes. The Swedish law provides that all companies that produce, import packaging and packaging products, and sell packaging products have the obligation to recycle the packaging. In the same year, Sweden established four nationwide specialized packaging recycling companies, namely Swedish paper and paperboard recycling companies, plastic recycling companies, corrugated cardboard recycling companies and metal recycling companies. Together with the Swedish glass recycling company that was established earlier, these five companies are responsible. Sweden's national recycling of packaging materials. Since implementing the "producer responsibility system", Sweden has achieved remarkable results in the recycling of packaging. When the "producer responsibility system" was introduced in 1994, the recycled packaging was 250,000 tons. According to the evaluation report of the Swedish National Environmental Protection Agency, the average recycling rate of various packaging materials in 2002 reached 65%, exceeding 660,000 tons. This means that a large number of waste packagings that were previously incinerated and landfilled are now being reused. As a result of this, the environmental burden has been reduced and energy consumption has decreased. In addition, the implementation of the "producer responsibility system" has also promoted the birth of a number of new waste packaging recycling companies. Now, Sweden needs to import about 145,000 tons of packaging waste each year to meet the production needs of these companies. (to be continued)