China Sets 2025 Circular Economy Targets: 60 Million Tonnes of Waste Paper, E-commerce Parcels to Mostly Avoid Secondary Packaging, Old-Book Exchange Encouraged

On July 1, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the 14th Five-Year Circular Economy Development Plan (the Plan), calling for fully rolling out circular production models by 2025, widely promoting green design and cleaner production, significantly strengthening comprehensive resource utilization capacity, and basically establishing a resource-recycling industrial system.

The Plan envisions that by 2025 a society-wide resource recycling system will be largely completed, resource efficiency will rise substantially, recycled resources will account for a greater share in replacing primary resources, and the circular economy will play a stronger role in safeguarding resource security. Main resource productivity is to be about 20% higher than in 2020; energy consumption and water use per unit of GDP are to decline by about 13.5% and 16%, respectively, from 2020; the comprehensive utilization rate of crop straw is to stay above 86%; and the comprehensive utilization rates of bulk solid waste and construction waste are both to reach 60%.

Waste paper utilization is to reach 60 million tonnes,

while scrap steel utilization is to reach 320 million tonnes, recycled non-ferrous metal output is to reach 20 million tonnes, and the resource recycling industry’s output value is to reach RMB 5 trillion.

Key projects and actions

The Plan sets out 11 key projects and actions, including:

Urban Waste Material Recycling System Development Project

This project targets municipalities directly under the central government, provincial capitals, cities with independent planning status and relatively populous cities, with about 60 cities selected to build waste material recycling systems. These cities are to coordinate the layout of collection and drop-off points, transfer stations and sorting centers; plan and develop renewable resource processing and utilization bases; advance classified use and centralized disposal of urban waste; and steer renewable resource processing and utilization projects toward clustered growth. Key city clusters such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta and Chengdu-Chongqing are encouraged to develop regional renewable resource processing and utilization bases.

Action to Advance Green Transformation of Express Packaging

This action calls for stronger green governance of express packaging and for e-commerce platforms and manufacturers to work together so that key categories of parcels can be shipped in original packaging. Packaging producers, e-commerce companies and express delivery firms are encouraged to form industry alliances. The plan supports a qualified supplier system for express packaging products, urges producers to reduce packaging at source, and implements a green product certification system for express packaging. Pilot programs will scale up recyclable express packaging, sharply increase the use of circular transfer bags and boxes, and expand standardized, green, shared turnover boxes. E-commerce and express delivery companies are encouraged to partner with commercial outlets, convenience stores and property service providers to set up agreed collection points and specialized recycling facilities for recyclable express packaging.

By 2025, e-commerce express parcels will basically no longer undergo secondary packaging, and the application scale of recyclable express packaging is to reach 10 million units.

Regulated Development of the Second-hand Goods Market

The Plan proposes improving laws and regulations on second-hand goods circulation, establishing and refining standards for authentication, evaluation and grading of used vehicles, home appliances and mobile phones, and standardizing market order and transaction practices. It promotes the standardized construction and operation of physical second-hand markets and encourages centralized, well-regulated flea markets.

Schools at all levels are encouraged to create old-book sharing corners and sharing days, so that teachers and students can exchange and reuse old books.

Communities are encouraged to organize regular second-hand goods trading events, facilitating the exchange and circulation of idle household items among local residents.

— This article is republished from China Packaging Network (pack.cn), original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-377718.html