From Decarbonization to Plastic Substitution: Green Zhejiang Points to a New Frontier for Paper

Zhejiang University of Science and Technology recently hosted the opening ceremony for the featured class of the Jinguang Paper-Based Materials Industry College, together with an Industry-Education Integration Innovation Development Forum. Attendees included Shan Shengdao, Vice President of Zhejiang University of Science and Technology; Liu Weilong, Director of the Consumer Goods Industry Division of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Economy and Information Technology; Hu Kaitang, Chairman of the Zhejiang Papermaking Society; Xin Hao, Secretary-General of Green Zhejiang; and Jiang Junde, Human Resources General Manager of Sinar Mas Group China.

The college is jointly established by the university's College of Environmental and Resource Sciences and Jinguang Paper (China) Investment Co., Ltd. Its aims include carrying out the open-university strategy of 'one college in multiple bodies, four-wheel drive,' improving applied-talent training, and strengthening the university's contribution to local economic and social development. Jinguang Paper (China) Investment Co., Ltd. operates 17 wholly owned or controlled pulp and paper enterprises and more than 20 forest farms, generates annual output value above RMB 100 billion, and ranks first among domestic paper companies. The Light Chemical Engineering program at the College of Environmental and Resource Sciences is a provincial '13th Five-Year Plan' specialty major and a provincial first-class undergraduate major, and has supplied many outstanding graduates to the paper-based materials sector. The industry college centers on digital transformation, intelligent manufacturing and green production in modern paper-based materials, while exploring deep industry-education integration and collaborative talent development.

During the forum, Xin Hao, Secretary-General of Green Zhejiang, examined from an environmental angle the opportunities for paper-based materials in today's green transition and outlined the policy context for China's carbon emission reduction and paper-for-plastic substitution.

01 The era's call for green manufacturing

Green manufacturing spans the full lifecycle of manufacturing resources, production processes, and product use and disposal. It covers not only resources such as raw materials and the energy used in production, but also the manufacturing process itself and the emissions and waste that may affect the environment during product use and end-of-life handling.

The paper industry is a heavy user and discharger of water, with high organic loads in wastewater. Its wastewater discharge, particularly chemical oxygen demand, is the largest among industries. Production also generates solid waste such as rotted pulp, pulp residue, bark, wood chips, grass roots and coal ash slag, while coal-fired boilers release exhaust gas and smoke. Green manufacturing is therefore highly significant for papermaking.

Both national and Zhejiang provincial authorities place strong emphasis on green manufacturing. Zhejiang Jingxin Green [2020] No. 78, the Guiding Opinions of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Economy and Information Technology on Accelerating the Green Development of Manufacturing, sets out its guiding thought: following the new goal and positioning raised by General Secretary Xi Jinping during his inspection of Zhejiang—'strive to become an important window for comprehensively displaying the superiority of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics in the new era'—to implement the strategy of a strong manufacturing province, be guided by the new development philosophy, and pursue low-carbon industrial structure, cleaner production, efficient energy and resource use, and regional economic circularity. It calls for key green manufacturing projects and a green manufacturing system built around green factories, green parks and green manufacturing pilot zones, so as to strengthen manufacturing competitiveness, create a national benchmark for green manufacturing development, and make green the most striking color of Zhejiang's development.

In September 2015, leaders of 193 UN member states adopted the Sustainable Development Goals for 2015–2030 across economic, social and resource-environment dimensions. Among the 17 goals, Goal 9 covers industry, innovation and infrastructure, while Goal 12 addresses responsible consumption and production; both are closely linked to the green development of the paper-based industry.

02 From pollution reduction to carbon reduction in papermaking

In the past, environmental attention on papermaking focused largely on energy saving and pollution reduction. On water saving, papermaking is one of China's five most water-intensive industries. Rising industrial water prices have made water savings increasingly valuable for long-term business development. Major domestic paper companies have invested heavily in recent years in R&D and upgrades for water-saving technologies and equipment, tapping water-saving potential and raising water reuse rates to internationally advanced levels.

On pollution reduction, paper companies have stepped up technical upgrades, retired outdated capacity, adopted world-class treatment processes, and used better management and comprehensive utilization to cut pollution at the source, improve resource efficiency, and reduce or avoid pollutant generation and discharge. Some Chinese paper companies have already pioneered green development models, with environmental indicators outperforming national standards and some reaching internationally leading levels.

The paper industry has now entered the carbon reduction phase. In 2020, at the 75th UN General Assembly, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed that China aim to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and strive to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. In 2021, carbon peaking and carbon neutrality were written into the government work report for the first time during the National Two Sessions.

China's goals stem, first, from the fact that climate change is a global challenge: rising carbon dioxide emissions and greenhouse gases threaten life systems, and countries have formed a global compact to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Second, as the world's factory with an increasingly complete industrial chain and growing domestic manufacturing capacity, China's carbon emissions are climbing rapidly, while its oil and gas resources are relatively scarce. Developing a low-carbon economy and reshaping the energy system therefore carry major security significance. By actively joining international carbon reduction, following the global green and low-carbon trend, and planning for carbon neutrality, China already has the conditions to achieve carbon neutrality. This also creates new opportunities for the paper industry's development.

For carbon reduction in papermaking, three peaks are needed—in concept, decision-making and action:

(1) Concept peak.

It is important to recognize that carbon peaking is a major strategic decision made by the state after careful consideration. In future development plans, project investment, engineering construction and production management, companies need to shift their thinking quickly, clarify priorities, and turn carbon peaking and carbon neutrality concepts into daily business actions.

(2) Decision-making peak.

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment has clearly supported key industries and key enterprises with the right conditions to peak first. Paper enterprises should seize the moment to conduct carbon emission accounting and, based on measurable, reportable and verifiable principles, choose the best possible verification methods. Leading in carbon peaking can bring policy support and a competitive edge.

(3) Action peak.

A carbon source generates carbon dioxide, while a carbon sink absorbs and stores it through natural ecosystems such as forests. Companies can increase carbon sinks by planting trees, cut carbon sources through energy saving and emission reduction, and take part in carbon trading through energy substitution—such as coal-to-gas switching and purchasing renewable energy—to fulfill corporate responsibility.

03 Paper-for-plastic substitution opens a new frontier for paper

Starting January 1, 2021, China's plastic restriction order was upgraded to a plastic ban, ending the purchase of disposable plastic straws, tableware, stirrers and similar single-use items. The expectation is that by 2040, single-use plastic products will gradually disappear from daily life. For the paper industry, the ban's implementation, combined with rising environmental awareness and consumption upgrading, has brought economical and eco-friendly substrates into end-consumer packaging. Paper-for-plastic substitution has become a major trend, giving the paper industry a new frontier.

Limits on disposable plastic straws and tableware support the growth of food-grade white card, while restrictions on disposable plastic bags favor carry-bag white card. Food-grade white card is degradable, recyclable and pollution-free, aligning with environmental principles; it is also oil-resistant and heat-resistant and can replace plastic products in packaging for medicine boxes, cigarette boxes, milk cartons, meal packs and fast food.

China's paper product capacity is sufficient and its performance strong enough to meet substitution demand under the plastic restriction order. By 2025, white card substitution for single-use plastic tableware in catering and food delivery is expected to reach 2.34 million tonnes, while substitution for non-degradable plastic bags in retail settings such as supermarkets and pharmacies is forecast at 1.17 million tonnes—together more than 3.5 million tonnes of market demand. New high-performance paper-based functional materials have broad market prospects.

Yet paper-for-plastic substitution still faces technical hurdles. Well-known chains including Starbucks, McDonald's and Heytea have gradually cut plastic straw use, switching to paper straws or direct-drink lids, and most consumers approve. As paper straws spread, however, their effect on drink taste has become more visible. At first, a paper straw performs reasonably well, but over time it softens, can release paper particles, and may even come apart after prolonged use, hurting the experience. Food paper products therefore still have a long way to go on the environmental path.

Coca-Cola is determined to advance bottles made entirely from paper. The challenge is how to give a paper bottle a 'moldable' structure that can withstand the pressure of carbonated drinks in a sealed state. In the Paboco paper bottle, strength is enhanced by using a single sheet of paper fiber material rather than multiple sheets, helping ensure firmness between fibers. By combining product design concepts with this strong fiber mixture, the paper bottle can endure significant pressure without breaking.

General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized the role of innovation as a driver. At the May 2021 General Assembly of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, he said that the leading and driving role of scientific and technological innovation should be fully leveraged, with efforts to make new breakthroughs in original innovation and achieve leapfrog development in important scientific and technological fields. Green development should likewise be innovation-led:

(1) Government guidance with enterprises as the main body. The government should guide green manufacturing development and strengthen institutional innovation and policy incentives. Enterprises should be further empowered as the main actors, with their vitality and creativity stimulated and social responsibility actively fulfilled.

(2) Upgrade existing capacity and optimize new capacity. Traditional manufacturing should accelerate green transformation and upgrading, adopt green and clean energy, improve resource efficiency, retire outdated equipment and processes, and reduce pollutants at the source. Emerging industries should be guided toward high-level green development, with stronger green design, green products and green industries.

(3) Innovation-driven and application-led. Scientific and technological innovation, management innovation and business model innovation should be promoted in green manufacturing, and a set of advanced, applicable green process technologies and equipment should be developed. The application of advanced technologies and equipment for energy saving, emission reduction, industrial water saving and comprehensive resource utilization should be accelerated, and a number of key green manufacturing projects should be implemented.

——This article is reproduced from China Packaging Network (pack.cn), original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-377709.html