Low-value garbage is also a good resource | Xiamen turns 150,000 tons of low-value garbage into treasure every year

Disposable lunch boxes, disposable plastic cups, foam, waste plastic bags and other common items in life after use how to deal with? Recently, by the National Development and Reform Commission economic system and management Institute issued the "Xiamen low-value recyclables recycling mode research report" (hereinafter referred to as the "report") shows that low-value recyclables such as disposable lunch boxes are also valuable resources, Xiamen City every year 150,000 tons of "low-value garbage" into resources, economic value of more than 135 million yuan. The recycling of these low-value recyclables alone can reduce approximately 435,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year.



Zhang Deyuan, Institute of Economic System and Management of the National Development and Reform Commission, said, "At present, low-value recyclables, as an important part of waste, have become the biggest shortcoming of waste recycling because of their scattered sources and difficult recycling. Traditional incineration or landfill treatment methods have caused a waste of resources, but also brought certain pollution and carbon emissions problems, can not meet the new requirements of green, low-carbon and circular development in the new era, and it is urgent to explore new development concepts and find a more optimized development path."



Low-value recyclables refer to various types of waste that are recyclable from the point of view of the object itself, but need to pay a high cost for recycling, resulting in poor economy, and it is difficult to effectively recycle by relying solely on market forces. Such as our daily life common disposable lunch boxes, disposable plastic cups, foam, waste plastic packaging bags, waste beverage paper based composite packaging, waste paper cups, paper bowls, waste textiles, waste glass and other solid waste.



Data show that in recent years, China's low-value recyclables production continues to increase, in 2021, the national city and county garbage removal volume reached 317 million tons, of which waste glass, waste plastics, waste textiles and other low-value recyclables accounted for 40% to 50%, the annual production of about 140 million tons, mostly mixed with domestic waste incineration disposal, etc. The average utilization rate of materialization is less than 30%.



According to the report, in recent years, Xiamen City, combined with domestic waste classification, has initially explored a low-value recyclable recycling mode covering the front, middle and back end of "government deployment support - professional operation of enterprises - active participation of residents". By issuing guidance catalogues for low-value recyclables, the government has strengthened land security for sorting centers, entrusted specialized enterprises to carry out market-oriented operations, promoted the integrated development of household waste classification and low-value recyclables classification and recycling at the recycling end, and built low-value recyclables sorting centers at the disposal end to improve the efficiency of recyclable sorting. And promote the effective connection between the sorted low-value recyclables and the back-end recycling base, and build a closed-loop low-value recyclables recycling system. The government transferred the subsidy originally used for the collection, transportation and disposal of domestic waste to the recycling and sorting of low-value recyclables, which realized the transformation of waste into treasure without increasing the financial burden.



Through continuous promotion, the construction of low-value recyclables recycling system in Xiamen City has achieved good economic, environmental and social benefits. According to the operational data, the comprehensive selection rate of low-value recyclables in Xiamen has increased from 72.72% in 2020 to 74.31% in 2022, the accuracy rate of residents' delivery is constantly improving, and the operational efficiency of the low-value recyclables recycling system is constantly improving. Xiamen turns 150,000 tons of "garbage" into resources every year. In the resource utilization base, the recyclables sorted out by these classifications will eventually be produced into recycled plastics, recycled pulp and other resource-based products, with an economic value of more than 135 million yuan. The recycling of these low-value recyclables alone can reduce approximately 435,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year.



The report believes that although Xiamen's low-value recyclables operation has achieved good results, it still needs to be further improved. The report recommends that



First, continue to strengthen the publicity and education of household garbage classification, and carry out extensive publicity in centralized places such as shopping malls, colleges and universities, organs and units to improve the classification accuracy of low-value recyclables;



The second is to further expand the coverage of low-value recyclable items, such as considering including large garbage into the scope of low-value recyclable items;



The third is to further strengthen technological innovation in resource utilization, carry out research and development of advanced technologies such as chemical recycling of mixed low-value waste plastics, and develop advanced technologies and industrial applications such as intelligent machine sorting;



The fourth is to continue to promote the effective connection between the domestic waste classification and recycling system and the low-value recyclables collection and transportation system, take resource utilization as a priority policy option, take incineration as a backstop safeguard measure, accelerate the construction of a sound waste recycling and utilization system, and improve the comprehensive utilization rate of waste resources.