On April 21, China's first national think tank Research Report on the concept and practice of plastic pollution control in China (hereinafter referred to as the report) was officially released. The report pointed out that after years of efforts, China has built a relatively perfect waste plastic recycling system, and the amount of waste plastic recycling is the first in the world. The report was jointly issued by the Institute of economic system and management of the Academy of macroeconomics of the national development and Reform Commission, the Institute of quantity and technical economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the industrial partners China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation and China material recycling association.

Relevant representatives of the national development and Reform Commission, director of yinwenquan Institute of economic system and management of the national development and Reform Commission, director of Institute of quantitative economics and technical economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Li Xuesong, President of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation Li Shousheng, President of the China Association for material recycling xujunxiang attended the press conference and delivered a speech.

At present, plastic pollution has gradually become the world's second-largest focus environmental problem after climate change. The report points out that in the face of the increasingly serious problem of plastic pollution, China continues to strengthen the recycling and utilization of plastic waste, actively develop the plastic circular economy, promote the full life cycle management from the production, consumption, circulation and disposal, speed up the construction of a closed cycle development mode from plastic design production, circulation and consumption to post waste recycling and disposal, and explore the coordinated development of plastic use and ecological environment protection.

The report shows that the amount of waste plastic recycling in China ranks first in the world. The advanced practice cases of plastic circular economy of Lenovo Group, meituan, Jinfa technology and other enterprises have been included. At the press conference, Wang Huiwen, vice president of Lenovo Group and chief quality officer of computers and intelligent devices, introduced that Lenovo had made many beneficial explorations in reducing the source control of plastic pollution through green product design and the use of closed-loop recycled plastics. Lenovo promises that by 2025, 100% of its computer products will contain recycled plastics, and the cumulative use will reach 130000 tons.

On April 21, Zhang Deyuan, an associate researcher of the Institute of economic system and management of the national development and Reform Commission, interpreted the report at the press conference.

April 22 is world earth day. However, it is worrying that at present, plastic pollution has gradually become the second largest global focus environmental problem after climate change, which brings great challenges to global sustainable development.

Plastic pollution everywhere, serious harm

It has to be said that the invention of plastics has brought great convenience to human production and life. At the same time, its pollution problem can not be ignored.

According to the data of the European Association of plastic manufacturers, from 2015 to 2020, the global plastic production and consumption increased steadily at an average rate of 2% per year. The production increased from 320 million tons in 2015 to 367 million tons in 2020, and the per capita consumption increased from 43.63 kg in 2015 to 46.60 kg in 2020. It is estimated that the output of plastics will double by 2035 and triple by 2050. At that time, the global annual per capita plastic consumption will reach 84.37 kg.

The report points out that China is also facing a serious problem of plastic pollution. With the changes in people's consumption patterns and the rapid development of emerging fields in recent years, as well as the substantial increase in the demand for disposable medical and protective equipment caused by the COVID-19, the use of disposable plastic products has also increased rapidly. In 2020, the consumption of plastics in China was 90.877 million tons, with a year-on-year increase of 12.2%.

It should be emphasized that Zhang Deyuan said that plastics cannot be equated with pollutants from the perspective of materials themselves. The essence of plastic pollution is environmental leakage caused by improper management of plastic waste. Once plastic leaks into the natural environment such as soil and water, it is difficult to degrade, which will cause visual pollution, soil pollution, water pollution and other environmental damage. Improper disposal will also affect greenhouse gas emissions and bring lasting harm to the fragile ecological environment. Microplastics entering the food chain may also cause serious harm to human health.

"Such a serious plastic pollution problem is widespread all over the world, and it is urgent to take extensive and effective measures to deal with it." Zhang Deyuan said that this is also the original intention of the report, which helps all sectors of society to comprehensively understand and understand plastic pollution, objectively view the effectiveness of China's plastic pollution control, and effectively encourage enterprises and the public to participate in plastic pollution control.

On April 21, the guests interacted with media reporters at the press conference.

The "3R" principle has achieved remarkable results in plastic pollution control in China

"In life, plastic products can be seen everywhere. It is unscientific and unrealistic to remove them." Zhang Deyuan said that in the face of potential plastic pollution risks, we must strengthen the recycling and utilization of plastic waste and develop a plastic circular economy.

Zhang Deyuan introduced that China is the third country in the world to promulgate special laws on circular economy. Unlike Germany, which focuses on solid waste management, China develops circular economy in all links of production, circulation and consumption, and implements the "3R" principle in all links and the whole process of production, circulation and consumption, namely "reduce, reuse and recycle", Gradually build a "resource product renewable resources" circular economy development model.

According to the "3R" principle of circular economy, the first is "reduction", so as to reduce the production and use of disposable plastic products as much as possible, and vigorously promote ecological design methods such as easy recycling and easy regeneration of plastic products from the source; The second is "reuse", exploring recyclable plastic products and business models in the circulation and consumption links; The last is "recycling". In the end disposal link, carry out the recycling and material utilization of waste plastic products, and carry out energy recycling for those who do not have the conditions for material utilization temporarily, so as to build a governance system covering the whole life cycle of plastic pollution.

According to the report, China's waste plastics recycling accounted for 45% of the global total in the same period. In 2021, the recycling volume of waste plastics was about 19million tons, and the recycling rate of waste plastics reached 31%, which was 1.74 times the average level of waste plastics in the world, and 100% of domestic waste plastics were recycled, while the recycling rates of domestic waste plastics in the United States, the European Union and Japan were only 5.31%, 17.18% and 12.50% respectively in the same period.

Not long ago, the fifth United Nations Environment Conference adopted the global agreement on ending plastic pollution control, proposing to start intergovernmental negotiations and strive to reach a legally binding agreement by the end of 2024.

The report also pointed out that plastic pollution is a common challenge facing mankind, and no country can be spared. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a sense of a community with a shared future for mankind, and the world should unite to take positive actions to deal with it. And put forward ten specific initiatives, which provide new ideas for the next step of international cooperation and efforts.