Recently, the Ministry of ecology and environment, the Ministry of Commerce

Development and Reform Commission, General Administration of Customs

Jointly issued by four departments

Announcement on matters related to total prohibition of import of solid waste

(hereinafter referred to as the notice)

It is clear that China will ban the import of foreign garbage since 2021

The "Announcement" stated:

From January 1, 2021, it is forbidden to import solid waste in any way. It is forbidden to dump, stack and dispose of solid waste in China;

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment has stopped accepting and approving applications for import permits for imported solid waste that can be used as raw materials;

The import permits for solid waste that can be used as raw materials with restricted imports that have been issued in 2020 shall be used within the validity period of 2020 stated in the certificate, and expire automatically after the expiry date.

China's solid waste imports mainly include waste plastics, waste paper, and waste metals. In recent years, with the increase in the comprehensive utilization of resources and increased awareness of cost reduction by enterprises, the use of renewable resources has gradually increased, but China's renewable resource recovery rate, product quality, and price are not sufficiently advantageous. Therefore, the import of solid waste has become a good supplement for these industries.

Since the implementation of the "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Waste" on September 1, 2020, China's imports of recycled plastic raw materials have decreased significantly, and traders who import recycled plastics have begun to shift their business to the domestic recycled plastics market. The total ban on solid waste this time will reduce imports to zero, coupled with the global upgrade of the "plastic limit order", will bring huge challenges and opportunities to Chinese recycled plastic manufacturers.

Recycled PET

Is the most mature recycled plastic product

It is learned from the China Renewable Resources Recycling Association that last year, China’s waste plastics produced 63 million tons, of which 32% was landfilled, 31% was incinerated, 7% was abandoned, and only about 30% was recycled.

PET is the world's most widely used beverage packaging material. General mineral water, carbonated beverages and functional beverage bottles are made of this material because it is non-toxic, tasteless, low in material cost, and has good barrier effects.

Among waste plastics, PET plastic bottles are the product with the highest recycling rate, and recycled PET is also the most mature recycled plastic product.

PET bottle:

Create a new market of more than 300 billion yuan

At the plastic recycling and circular economy forum and exhibition held at CHINAPLAS 2019, the general manager of Veolia Huafei and the chairman of the recycled PET branch of China Synthetic Resin Supply and Marketing Association, Cao Weidong said that the whole industry will be The demand for recycled PET chips is 20,000 tons, and the market supply capacity is about 30,000 tons, which are equal to each other. In 2019, the market demand for this product is about 200,000 tons, and the supply capacity is only 120,000 tons. There is a gap of 80,000 tons. The high-end recycled PET industry is still in the development stage. Due to waste import restrictions and the extensive domestic recycling system, raw materials for high-end recycled PET are still relatively scarce. According to his estimates, the gap in capacity supply may further widen.

PET bottle flakes after washing and crushing

Cao Weidong also said that according to his association, the current high-end recycled PET market is increasing at a rate of 100%. In the future, there will be a US$50 billion (approximately RMB 328.815 billion) market worldwide.

Recycled PET innovation application case

PET bottle → recycled fiber

The recycled plastic bottles are processed, and the processed bottle flakes can be spun into recycled fibers.

In 2019, Nike pointed out in its "Impact Report" that 76% of Nike's footwear and clothing have used recyclable materials. Since 2010, Nike has accumulated more than 7.5 billion plastic bottles recovered from landfills and other places.

International brands such as Adidas and Decathlon also plan to use recycled fiber instead of virgin fiber. Among them, Adidas announced that it will fully adopt recycled fibers by 2024.

Picture Coca-Cola China has officially released the "Care Bag" for the first time a beverage bottle recycling package. All fabrics of this series are recycled from beverage bottles. All the fabrics are recycled from beverage bottles, and about 8 beverage bottles are regenerated into a "care bag".

PET bottle→rPET bottle

Coca-Cola recently announced that it will take an important step towards eliminating petroleum-based plastic packaging in the Western European market, and will transition plastic bottles in the Netherlands and Norway to 100% recycled plastic.

After launching recycled bottles in the Swedish market at the end of last year, Coca-Cola announced that starting from October this year, small-volume plastic bottles produced locally in the Netherlands will be converted into recycled plastic bottles. The brands involved include Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta. Starting in 2021, Coca-Cola will convert large-capacity plastic bottles into 100% recycled bottles.

Coca-Cola will be one of the first companies in Norway and the Netherlands to replace all its locally produced plastic bottles with 100% rPET. This move reflects Coca-Cola's strategic goal of sustainable development in Western Europe, accelerating its progress towards 100% rPET bottles in the next ten years, and ultimately eliminating all petroleum-based PET plastic bottles.

Picture of Accolade Wines' Banrock Station brand announced that it will launch a flat wine bottle. This flat wine bottle with a capacity of 750ml (75cl) is made of 100% recycled PET (rPET) plastic.   

PET bottle→tape

Picture Essentra Tapes, the world's leading tape company, claims to have launched the industry's first tear-off tape for soft bags.

The new product SupaStrip PCR is made of recycled PET. The 23-micron monolayer film contains 70% post-consumer resin (PCR).

Essentra said that the new tear-off tape can be well applied to flexible packaging lines, and it is simple and convenient to achieve fast, safe and instant use. In addition, the printability of the tape allows brands to add brand information and logos.