The 2022 Green Action White Paper of the Plastic Recycling Industry Joint Green Action Alliance (hereinafter referred to as the “White Paper”) was officially released. The White Paper comprehensively displays the “green” achievements of the Alliance, analyzes the situation of the plastic industry and the requirements for circular development, and proposes plastic recycling solutions to support China’s construction of a green, low-carbon and circular economic system. The White Paper points out that with the improvement of global waste plastic recycling technology and the increase in production capacity, it is expected that by 2030, the global waste plastic recycling rate is expected to reach 50%, of which physical recycling accounts for 22%, nearly doubling, and chemical recycling accounts for 17%, with huge room for growth.
The Plastic Recycling Industry Joint Green Action Alliance was jointly initiated in April 2021 by Sinopec, Tongji University Institute of Ecological Civilization and Circular Economy, Guangxi Guolong, Shanghai Leju, and other 23 research institutes, front-end recycling, brand companies, and industry associations. It aims to promote the establishment of an exchange and cooperation platform for the entire industry chain, create a new model of plastic circular economy, and make greater positive contributions to reducing plastic pollution and achieving my country’s carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals.
The white paper shows the case of “Sinopec’s Full Industrial Chain Circulation – Building and Promoting SINOPEC+”, and details Sinopec’s full industrial chain circulation green action. For example, Sinopec actively promotes the green action of plastic reduction. Since 2018, Sinopec has achieved the delivery of synthetic resin products with tray sleeves through packaging line transformation, formulation of shared pallet standards, construction of stereoscopic warehouses and implementation of intelligent factory delivery systems. In 2022, the promotion of shared pallets will be further strengthened to achieve a utilization rate of synthetic resin products of more than 50%. At present, 21 Sinopec companies officially use shared pallets.
The white paper points out that plastic recycling refers to the recycling and reprocessing of existing plastic waste to turn it into plastic products for consumers to use again or multiple times, thereby extending its life cycle. The plastic cycle is mainly divided into five stages: plastic production, plastic consumption, plastic waste, plastic recycling, and recycling processing. In the closed loop of the industrial chain of my country’s plastic cycle, each link is of great significance. Only by opening up the entire closed loop can the efficient recycling and resource utilization of plastic products be achieved.
The white paper believes that plastic itself is not a pollutant, and the environmental leakage caused by improper management of plastic waste is the main impact of plastic waste on the environment. The long-term accumulation of waste plastics in the environment will lead to environmental pollution and waste of energy resources. Developing a plastic recycling economy is one of the main means to solve the problem of plastic environmental leakage. While reducing plastic waste pollution and protecting the ecological environment, it turns waste into treasure and enables waste plastics to generate economic value again, so that the plastic closed loop can operate stably.