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Analysis of plastic recycling market

      Plastics are not the enemy of the environment! Plastic is an energy-saving material that can replace other products to achieve energy conservation and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. If plastic is not used, the world's energy resources will become more tense and air pollution will become more serious. This view has gradually become the consensus of the plastic industry in participating countries. However, industry insiders also stated that despite the bright development prospects of the plastic industry, it is also necessary to face up to the increasingly serious environmental problems caused by the widespread use of plastic bags and plastic products. National plastic associations believe that encouraging the reuse of plastic products and better recycling of waste plastics are key to the sustainable development of the plastic industry.

      The recycling of waste plastics is an important way to turn waste into treasure and solve ecological and environmental pollution. The recycling of waste plastics, as a measure to save energy and protect the environment, has received widespread attention worldwide. The following is the current situation of waste plastic recycling markets around the world.
1. United States
      According to the statistics of the American Chemical Commission, in 2009, more than 99.7% of plastic bottles produced by plastics such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polyester and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) in the United States were recycled.
      Coca Cola Company of the United States is the largest consumer of PET polyester in the world. The company has the world's largest plastic bottle recycling plant in South Carolina, the United States. The U.S. plant is built by the National Resource Recycling Corporation, and based on the full capacity of the plant, it annually produces 100 million pounds of recycled plastic for reuse. Coca Cola aims to enable the factory to help achieve the company's long-term goal of 100% recycling of plastic bottles in the United States. Coca Cola has invested $60 million in a series of recycling action plans, including the construction of a South Carolina plastic bottle recycling plant. According to the company, the energy used to produce plastic bottles from recycled materials is significantly lower than the energy required to produce plastic bottles from raw materials.
      Under pressure from consumers, environmental advocates, and retailers, several plastic bag manufacturers, which account for more than 80% of the production in the United States, solemnly pledged to achieve a recycling rate of 40% of plastic bags by 2015 on Earth Day, April 22, 2009. Recently, some cities in the United States have restricted the use of plastic bags, and many retailers have also indicated that they will significantly reduce the use of plastic bags. The main reason people no longer favor plastic bags is that these products often take hundreds of years to degrade. It is reported that the annual output value of plastic bags in the United States alone reaches $1 billion, with an output of about 90 billion.
      According to the President of the American Chemical Council, Ka Duley, this action by the plastic industry indicates that the industry will accelerate the pace of recycling plastic bags. Based on a 40% recycling rate in 2015, greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by 463 million pounds and waste will be reduced by 300 million pounds annually. To achieve these goals, the plastic bag industry needs to invest $50 million in the transformation of production processes, as well as the recycling of 470 million pounds of renewable plastic bags annually to produce new plastic bags. "This is an important commitment of industry to reduce waste and protect the environment," said Matthew McKenna, chairman of Let America Always Be Beautiful, a non-profit environmental organization in the United States. The organization receives donations from the American Chemical Council every year.
      Recycling in the plastic packaging industry is gradually approaching, which has affected the sustainable development of plastic bottles and packaging for food and beverage manufacturers and retailers. In some cases, recycling services have made plastic waste a sustainable material. For example, PWP Industries, a food packaging company in the United States, announced in mid July 2009 the construction of a second recycling device with an annual processing capacity that can recycle 40 million pounds of post consumer PET, or PETE (recycled polyethylene) plastic bottles. The initial investment is approximately $20 million, and the device is located in California and was put into operation in the second quarter of 2010. The second phase was put into use in the second quarter of 2011, increasing the annual processing capacity to 80 million pounds of PET plastic bottles. According to PWP Industry, based on an annual processing capacity of 80 million pounds of PET plastic bottles, the new recycling device can reduce carbon dioxide by 60000 tons, reduce buried 226300 cubic meters, and save 780 million kWh.
      According to a report by the American Polyester Container Resource Association, the Post Consumer Plastic Recycling Association, and the PET Resin Association in mid November 2010, the recycling rate of post consumer PET polyester containers in the United States increased to 28% in 2009, which is the sixth consecutive year for the United States to improve the recycling rate. The "Post consumption PET polyester container recycling in 2009" report indicates that recycled PET polyester used in manufacturing applications reached a record 937 million pounds in end use, reflecting significant growth in the end use sectors of plates and films, food and beverage bottles, and non edible bottles compared to 2008. The report also found that PET polyester containers for food, beverage, and non food use increased by 37% from 2008 to 2009. The total number of PET bottles and cans used in the United States in 2009 reached 5.149 billion pounds. In 2009, the United States collected post-consumer PET polyester bottles for recycling and sales reached 1.444 billion pounds.
       In June 2009, PWP Industries has launched an 80000 square foot post consumer plastic recycling center in West Virginia.       The second center, PWP Industries, together with Coca Cola Atlanta Plastic Recycling Company, converts PETE plastic bottles into food grade suitable materials approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
      NativeWaters, which operates bottled mineral water, has 100% used biodegradable plastic bottles and used ENSO biodegradable PET plastic. ENSO plastic bottles can maintain the same physical properties and strength as existing PET plastic bottles, and are more stable than starch based PLA materials and carbonyl degradable plastics.
      On January 13, 2009, the Design Chemistry Department of the Environmental Design Consulting Business Organization of the United States awarded ValoxiQPET polyester resin from Saber Innovative Plastics with the honor of environmental green product. ValoxiQPET polyester resin is produced using a proprietary process using PET based polymers, which also uses up to 65% of post consumer plastic waste, resulting in a 50% to 85% lower carbon footprint than other engineering thermoplastics. Applications of ValoxiQ resin include furniture, computer and consumer electronics products, as well as automotive components such as fenders.
      In addition, researchers at Northeastern University in Boston, USA, announced on June 19, 2010 that waste plastic can be converted into alternative fuels. A facility has been designed to convert plastic waste into clean energy while minimizing the release of harmful emissions. The research team has developed a waste burner that can break down non biodegradable plastics to form an alternative source of fuel. The prototype facility results were announced at the fifth annual meeting of the MIT Energy Conference in March 2010. Self sustainability is the key to the design of the dual tank burner in this system.
      Plastic waste is first treated through pyrolysis in the previous tank to convert solid plastic into gas. The gas then flows to the next tank, where it is burned using an oxidant to generate heat and steam. Thermal energy supports the burner, while steam can be used to generate electricity. The prototype facility can be scaled up and used to drive large power plants that can be linked to plastic recycling centers to provide a stable source of fuel. According to calculations, using this new technology alone in the United States has the potential to replace 462 million gallons of oil if all recycled plastic is processed. Using this system can reduce the cost of future power generation.
      According to a report released in May 2012, the recycling volume of plastic films and bags in the United States increased significantly, jumping 14% in 2010 to 971.8 million pounds (approximately 448000 tons). This is the first time since 2006 that the annual growth rate has exceeded 3%. According to data compiled by Murray Recycling Associates and published by the US Chemical Council, the number of plastic bags and films collected in the country jumped 14% in 2010, from nearly 854.4 million pounds (approximately 387500 tons) in 2009 to 971.8 million pounds (approximately 448000 tons) in 2010. The message it sends is that plastic bags can be recycled, and many plastic bags are printed with the words "Take it back.". The comparison shows that the cumulative percentage increase in the recovery rate in the previous three years was only 5.2%, with an increase of 2.24% in 2007, 0.25% in 2008, and 2.64% in 2009.

2. Europe
      According to the statistics of the European Plastics Manufacturing and Recycling Group in Brussels, the plastic recycling rate in Europe reached 54% in 2008. In 2009, the demand for plastic in Europe increased to 52.8 million tons, of which 50% was recycled, 20.6% recycled, and 29.5% recycled for energy. Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland all had plastic waste recycling rates of over 82% in 2009. According to the statistical data of 27 member countries and 2 non member countries of the European Union, the total amount of plastic waste in Europe in 2008 was about 24.9 million tons, of which 63% came from plastic packaging. The European Union attaches great importance to the recycling and utilization of waste plastics. Currently, most citizens in European countries can consciously classify packaging waste.
      According to relevant research data, currently in Europe, the application benefits of plastics are 5 to 9 times higher than the emissions from the production and recycling processes of plastic products; It is expected that by 2020, the benefits of using plastics will be 9-15 times higher than the combined emissions from production and waste management.
      To ensure the sustainable development of the plastic industry, a joint national action plan should be established among plastic producers, processors, retailers, and recycling plants. For example, manufacturers need to maintain a good image of plastics, processors should improve product quality, retailers should strengthen contact with customers through plastic bag exchange programs, recyclers should recycle, and improve the industry's image by improving the responsible use of plastic bags to achieve a win-win situation. In addition, different types of waste plastics have different recycling methods. Some can be sent to factories for reprocessing, some can be used as compost, some can be converted into energy, and some can be biodegradable.
      It is understood that in the past 10 years, the EU plastic industry has invested 50 million euros to promote the management of plastic waste, and has achieved certain results. Based on the quality of waste plastics, the average recovery rate in 2008 was 51.3%, an increase of 1.7% over the previous year. Among them, Switzerland has done the best work in recycling waste plastics, with a recovery rate of 99.5%; Denmark and Germany followed closely, with recoveries of 96.5% and 96.3%, respectively.
      In 2009, the collection and recycling of all PET polyester bottles on the European market reached 52%. According to the European PET bottle recycling organization, the collection volume in Europe reached 1.5 million tons in 2009. The tonnage of PET polyester recycled materials used for fiber manufacturing increased, and the tonnage of recycled materials used for board increased, increasing its share to 27%. The use of blow molding also continued to increase, accounting for nearly 20% in 2009. The export volume to the Far East maintained 14% of the collected PET polyester volume, but the export tonnage increased by as much as 36%. The European Packaging and Packaging Waste Guidelines require most EU member states to recycle at least 22.5% of plastic packaging in 2008, with the goal of increasing the proportion of plastic recycled or reused from household sources to 50% by 2020.
      It is said that the amount of PET recycled from the UK has greatly exceeded the supply. According to statistics from the Waste and Resources Action Plan, the UK currently requires about 60000 tons per year, while the UK's production reached 50000 tons per year by 2009. The UK has built a 35000 ton/year recyclable PET plant in eastern London, which was put into production in 2008, producing 9000 tons/year of food grade PET materials. The Central Continental Recycling Company has a 15000 ton/year hot cleaning debris device, which was also put into operation at the end of 2007. JFC Recycling Company also built a 9000 ton/year hot cleaning debris device, which was put into operation at the end of 2007. The hot washed fragments themselves cannot achieve food grade quality, but they can be processed into food grade materials after hot washing.
      According to a report from the European Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Conference, the recycling rate of PVC after consumption increased to 87% in 2009. In 2009, the amount of PVC recycled after consumption reached 170000 tons, compared to 83000 tons in 2006, and the target for 2010 was 200000 tons. In 2009, the amount of recycled window frames exceeded 60000 tons, and the amount of pipe materials was 30000 tons.
      The British government proposed an implementation plan in early May 2008 to produce half of all milk packaging from recyclable materials by 2020. This goal is part of an implementation plan established by the UK Government's Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture, known as the "Milk Roadmap". A goal has also been set to reduce CO2, methane, and nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 30% compared to 1990. Meat and milk production is estimated to account for approximately 7% of the UK's total greenhouse gas emissions. In 2007, the UK produced 13.6 billion liters of milk per day, of which 6.5 billion liters entered the liquid milk market. Nampak has launched its first recyclable HDPE milk bottle on a medium-sized scale to the market in 2007. It is alleged that about 80% of milk sold by British retailers is packaged in plastic containers. HDPE treated plastic bottles are 100% recyclable, and the closed-loop recycling of HDPE milk bottles as HDPE milk bottles demonstrates maximum sustainability and effective recycling. In 2009, Nampak decided to achieve a 10% recycling rate for milk bottles manufactured in the UK. Nampak has built a closed-loop recycling device in the northeast of the UK that can handle up to 13000 tons/year of HDPE milk bottles, and was put into operation at the end of 2008. The process used was jointly developed by Wrap Group, dairy supplier DairyCrest, retailer M&S, and Nextek, a recycling technology company.
      According to a report by the British Plastics Federation in early July 2010, in 2009, one-third of the EPS packaging materials in the UK were recycled, i.e. 5031 tons. The government's 2010 recycling target for all plastics is 25.5%.

      According to data released by two European industry associations, the recovery rate of PET bottles classified in Europe increased by 9.4% to 1.59 million tons in 2011. According to a report jointly released by the European PET Container Recycling Association and the European Plastic Recycling Association, the overall recovery rate of PET bottles in the European market reached a record 51% in 2011. In 2011, more than 50% of recycled PET bottles were used to produce packaging containers or sheets, and 39% were used to produce fiber. The number of recycled PET bottles used in the belt market increased slightly, just over 100000 tons. In one third of the countries surveyed, the recovery rate exceeded 70%.

3. Asia
      Japan has also done a good job in recycling waste plastics. According to the Japan Plastics Industry Federation, the total amount of waste plastic emissions in Japan in 2008 was 9.98 million tons, including 5.02 million tons of municipal emissions and 4.96 million tons of industrial emissions. 7.58 million tons of waste plastics were recycled, accounting for 76% of the total emissions. Among them, 2.14 million tons of machinery were recovered, accounting for 21%;
      Liquefaction/blast furnace 250000 tons, accounting for 3%; 410000 tons of solid fuel, accounting for 4%; Power generation through incineration is 3.53 million tons, accounting for 35%; Incineration heating is 1.24 million tons, accounting for 12%. In addition, only 1.18 million tons, accounting for 12%, were incinerated; Landfill is 1.22 million tons, accounting for 12%.
      In recent years, some other countries in Asia have also attached increasing importance to the recycling and utilization of waste plastics. They all believe that reducing the environmental pollution caused by plastic products is not only a simple issue such as the government prohibiting the use of plastic bags, but also a more important thing to change people's attitudes, cultivate good usage habits, and establish a sound recycling system. For example, the Malaysian Plastic Manufacturers Association has been strengthening dialogue with federal government agencies, trade associations, non-governmental organizations, academia, and relevant stakeholders in recent years to educate the public on garbage classification and recycling. With the active promotion of the Malaysian Plastic Manufacturers Association, the state government, which was the first to implement the "No Plastic Bag Day" activity in Malaysia, has also begun to work with the association to educate the public on recycling.
      The Philippine Plastics Industry Association also attaches great importance to educating the public and paying attention to legislation on solid waste management. It consults with the government, relevant industry associations, and relevant interest groups to promote mobile plastic collection and recycling pilot projects and plastic recycling technologies, such as plastic waste energy conversion technology and biodegradable plastic technology.
      Since Singapore launched the "Self Contained Shopping Bag Day" event in April 2007, public education has been used to discourage the widespread use of plastic bags and cultivate public awareness of conservation. Many Singaporean households now reuse plastic bags for household garbage. At the same time, in order to reduce plastic waste from its root causes, the National Environment Agency of Singapore signed a "voluntary packaging agreement" with the catering industry in July 2007, which advocates the positive commercial significance of environmental practices. In the past two years, companies participating in the agreement have reduced plastic packaging waste by 2500 tons, saving S $4.4 million. It is understood that the overall recycling rate of plastics in Singapore has increased from 40% in 2000 to 57% in 2009, and is expected to reach 60% by 2012. In the future, Singapore will use waste plastic bags more for waste incineration and power generation than for landfill treatment to reduce their impact on the environment.

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