Recycling of Packaging Materials Wins New Opportunities for Environmental Packaging Industry

The rapid development of China's packaging industry has caused many environmental problems. A full-scale entry into the environmental protection industry will provide opportunities for the packaging industry to win a second major development. Enterprises can expect to achieve a double ideal return as soon as possible.

Relevant experts pointed out that at present, packaging waste has been increasing, and recycling technology has reached an initial maturity. Under the condition that solid waste is treated in the direction of reduction, harmlessness, and recycling, it is not only feasible to invest in the recycling of packaging waste. And it will also promote the development of the packaging industry. On the one hand, this is in line with the country's sustainable development strategy. The strengthening of environmental protection has solved the worries of the development of the packaging industry and opened new economic growth points. On the other hand, advancing to the environmental protection industry can develop inexpensive packaging for the packaging industry. Sources of raw materials, lower original production costs, with dual economic and ecological benefits.

With the increase in the amount of packaging waste, the cost of waste disposal has been rising, and increasing the recycling of packaging waste is a general trend. However, in the rapid development of packaging production, China still has a large gap with developed countries in terms of waste management, disposal and recycling.

According to statistics, the reuse rate of paper, iron, aluminum and glass containers in Switzerland averaged over 86%; the German tinplate recovery rate was 50%, the corrugated paper recovery rate was 95%, and the comprehensive recovery rate of waste newspapers was 78%. In contrast, the environmental pollution caused by the production, circulation, and consumption of packaging products in China has not been fully and adequately valued. Experts cautioned that the current investment in packaging recycling waste recycling is at the right time.

First of all, the recycling of packaging materials has obvious economic and ecological benefits. According to experts, although there are many types of packaging waste, the packaging materials can be basically divided into four categories: paper products, plastic products, glass products and metal products. Packaging waste is mostly renewable resources. Calculated according to the current recovery level: The country recycles 140,000 tons of cartons a year, which can save 80,000 tons of coal with the same amount of paper, 49 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, 23.8 tons of wood pulp and straw, and 11,000 tons of caustic soda. Recycling one billion glass bottles a year will save 49,000 tons of coal needed for the same amount of glass bottles, 38.5 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, 49,000 tons of quartz stones, and 15,700 tons of soda ash; With 40 million steel drums, it can save 48,000 tons of steel products. One year, 100 million meters of packaging fabrics can be recycled, and 15,000 tons of cotton can be saved. The total value of the above items amounts to several hundred million yuan.

Second, the continuous growth of packaging waste production provides sufficient production resources for recycling. Judging from the statistics of the total output of the national packaging industry, currently there are approximately 8.35 million tons of paper packaging products, 2.44 million tons of plastic packaging products, 4.44 million tons of glass packaging products, and 1.61 million tons of metal packaging products. At the same time, these products also grow at a rate of 12.5%-30% per year. According to research data, 1 ton of waste paper can regenerate 0.8 ton of new paper or 0.83 ton of cardboard; 1 ton of waste plastic can regenerate 0.75 ton of diesel or 0.6 ton of unleaded gasoline. From this we can see that there is no need to worry about the "raw material" problem of recycling.

Thirdly, the technology for the treatment of packaging waste has become increasingly mature. The treated packaging waste has a wide range of uses and its market prospects are promising. For example, degradable plastics composting and soilless cultivation matrix technology are the supporting technologies for degradable plastic lunch boxes and other products. After discarded snack boxes are recycled, they can be mixed with soil or other substrates by smashing and detoxifying treatment, and used for soilless or semi-aerial cultivation. The waste plastics oiling technology uses high-performance catalysts to "depolymerize" high-density polyethylene or polypropylene plastics to produce diesel and gasoline that meet the national standards, and the oil production rate reaches over 75%. Liquefied gas and carbon black can also be recycled if necessary equipment is installed. By changing the catalyst, it can also produce chemical products such as toluene, xylene, and pure benzene. In addition, waste plastics (including PE, PP, PVC, PS) and filling mixtures (including a variety of urban and rural wastes such as activated carbon waste, crushed animal and plant waste, weathered coal, humic acid and other powders) together constitute a fertilizer capsule. The cost of membranes is only about 300 yuan/ton more than ordinary compound fertilizers. This is an environmental protection project that changes "white pollution" to "green fertilizer" and can absorb a large amount of packaging waste.