Green packaging design scientific development concept (3)

4. Recycling

Packaging recycling is of great significance for saving energy and reducing pollution to the environment. Table 1 shows the impact data for the recovery of the three packaging containers.

Therefore, all countries have set specific targets for increasing packaging recycling rate year by year. For example, the European Union requires that the recycling rate of packaging wastes be 50%-65% by weight, and the recycling rate should be 25%-40%. The recovery rates required by Germany are 80% for glass, 80% for tinplate, 80% for aluminum, 80% for cardboard, 80% for paper, 80% for plastic, and 80% for composites. Countries that require the reuse of Packaging Materials and regeneration rates to reach certain targets: 85% in France, 58% in the UK, 50% in Denmark, 60% in the Netherlands, - 25% in the United States - 60% in the United States, 80% in Austria, and 40% in Belgium %. China's packaging recycling has very distinct Chinese characteristics. Because a large number of rural surplus labor forces are flooding into cities, any package that a department is willing to purchase at a high price can basically be recycled. For example, paper products, polyester bottles, beer bottles, and two-piece cans have very high recovery rates. However, other recycling packages with lower prices have lower recovery rates. Table 2 shows the production of paper products and the recovery of waste paper in various countries at the end of the last century. Table 3 shows the data of plastic recycling and processing in Europe, the United States, Japan, and China at the end of the last century. Table 4 shows the recycling data of glass bottles from various countries at the end of the last century. At the end of the last century, the recovery rate of two-piece cans in Japan reached 43.1%, and that in the United States was 62.4%. The regeneration rate of steel drums in various countries ranges from 20% to 46%.

From the above data, we can see that there is still a certain gap between China and foreign advanced countries in the issue of packaging recycling. The current issues needing attention are:

(1) Should supermarkets give plastic bags to consumers? Because plastic bags are difficult to recycle, they have become the main problem of white pollution and landscape pollution. So some experts suggest that supermarkets should not prepare plastic bags for consumers, instead of using fiber bags that can be used multiple times. Some proposals levied collection fees on plastic bags and encouraged consumers to bring their own bags to reduce the amount of plastic bags discarded. At present, the primary problem is that there are a large number of plastic bags made of waste plastics in the farmers' market, and supervision must be strengthened. The second is how to establish a mechanism to encourage the recycling of plastic bags. A certain number of return charges for plastic bag producers can be considered, together with government subsidies, so that recyclers have enthusiasm. Research and development of equipment that separates plastics from waste, and established specialized companies to deal with the acquisition of waste plastic bags to form a circular economy.

(2) How to increase the recycling rate of plastic packaging? At present, the recovery rate of light-weight packaging products such as plastic bags, plastic boxes, plastic bottles, and foam plastics is very low, and it needs to be solved in terms of technology and policy. There are generally three methods for the recycling of plastics: material (mechanical) recycling, chemical (monomeric or chemical) recycling, and energy (heat) recycling. How to choose depends on the comprehensive balance of technology, economy and environment. A large number of plastic waste mixed with toxic substances (such as pesticides, medical crystals, etc.) can not be recycled using materials, and the latter two methods should be used for recycling. The use of plastic waste recycled plastic products, can save 85% -90% resin, saving processing energy 6% -17%, but the current recovery string is not high, Japan is less than 20%, Germany demanded 40% - 80% has been Fail to reach this target. The main reason is that the plastics are too dispersed, the varieties are mixed and difficult to separate, and some plastic packagings are composite plastics. The regeneration is difficult, which affects the recovery enthusiasm and requires new regeneration technologies with higher added value. In addition, the recovery costs are high, such as Germany's $340 per ton chargeback, sorting fee $528, and cleaning fee $400. In order to encourage recycling, you may consider charging certain fees for these products. We should learn from foreign experience and establish a system for the management of classified signs on plastic waste. For example, in the United States, there are seven different plastic triangle recycling marks, namely the numbers in the Mobius Loop: 1 for PET, 2 for HDPE, 3 for PVC, 4 for LDPE, 5 for PP, and 6 for PS 7 are other. It is required that the plastic packaging of all products should be marked with a corresponding recycling mark, which brings great convenience for subsequent processing. Plastics have the highest energy value in solid waste, with a heating value of 4,400-11,000 kcal/kg. Therefore, recycling heat energy from plastic incineration is regarded as an important means for recycling resources abroad. However, when plastics such as PVC and EPS are burned, harmful gases are generated, which can easily damage the furnace body. The equipment investment is large, and the processing cost is as high as 50 US dollars/ton or more, and there are certain conditions. However, incineration is always better than landfilling, and it can also recover a considerable amount of energy. According to foreign experts' forecasts, the recycling rate of plastics may reach 40%; of which recycling and recycling will account for 42%, incineration 26%, pyrolysis and oilification 25%, and other 4%. The recycling rate of plastics in China is only about 5%, and most of them are abandoned as garbage, which not only wastes resources but also pollutes the environment.

(3) Is it worth promoting the use of some degradable plastics? According to research conducted by certain units, it is believed that after 1 to 2 years, partially degradable plastics made from starch and plastics will be broken up into pieces of 0.5x0.5cm2 or less. No significant effect. However, whether it meets environmental protection requirements is worth further discussion.

(4) Who is responsible for the explosion of beer bottles? Beer bottles are the packaging containers with the highest recycling rate. Because the brewery used recycled beer bottles in order to reduce the cost of packaging, or caused microcracks on the surface due to poor circulation, the beer bottles eventually exploded and wounded. The solution is nothing more than to strengthen supervision and improve the technical level of beer transport packaging, and clarify the responsibility of producers. Fundamentally solving the problem of beer packaging, the development of new technologies such as lightweight bottles and surface hardening should be given more attention.

(5) How to deal with other glass bottles? As the country has forced the closure of a large number of flat glass pullers who consume large amounts of broken glass, there is no unit purchase of glass bottles other than beer bottles, resulting in a sharp decline in the recycling rate of glass bottles, which has increased Waste transport and landfill workload. Glass is a high-grade packaging container that is easy to reproduce. It should guide its reuse and regeneration through policies. The relevant departments can take the lead to improve the reuse rate through the standardization of wine bottles. Local governments can support the establishment of production lines that use broken glass to produce high-grade building materials, and promote the recycling of glass bottles. The recovery, reuse and anti-counterfeiting of famous brand liquor bottles are also worthy of study and solution.

(6) How to solve the recovery of the three-piece cans? Because the three-piece cans are light in weight and have solders that are not conducive to remelting, the enthusiasm of the steelmakers for the acquisition is not high. Only by charging back fees and subsidies to improve the enthusiasm of the recyclers, formulate mandatory steel mills to improve the technical level and the use of three-piece cans of management methods.

(7) Whether cartons and wooden boxes can be reused? The cartons and wooden boxes with the largest amount of use are currently one-off, and foreign companies are exploring ways to reuse them. Thanks to its clever design, carton boxes and wooden boxes can be recycled and reused at a low cost, but they rely on user acceptance. The packaging design concept goes from "cradle to grave" (Cradletograve) to "cradletorein carnation". For example, when designing a package, it is considered that when the package is discarded, it is easily converted into daily necessities such as furniture and continues to function. The development of online shopping and the popularity of door-to-door service enable manufacturers to use simple transportation packages to deliver to supermarkets. Supermarkets also use reusable packaging to deliver directly to consumers. This consumption model may trigger a package. The revolution is worthy of timely guidance from relevant departments.

(8) How to establish a Pallet Alliance? Experience abroad has shown that if the national pallets can be used interchangeably, the pallet cost can be reduced by about 20%. To this end, it is necessary to formulate a nationwide uniform specification and standard for pallets, establish a coalition of pallets, and implement a transport mechanism that can be used interchangeably. The China Packaging Federation can play a leading role in the establishment of the Pallet Alliance.

(to be continued)