Is recycling plastic sustainable?

In people's impression, plastic is the enemy of the environment, but it is not. Plastic is an energy-saving material that can replace other products to achieve energy savings. Nevertheless, we still need to face up to the increasingly serious environmental problems caused by the large-scale use of plastic products. National plastics associations generally believe that encouraging the reuse of plastic products and better recycling of waste plastics is the key to the sustainable development of the plastics industry.



Industry insiders believe that plastic products can significantly reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, especially the use of plastics in thermal insulation, food packaging and renewable energy production, which can achieve significant benefits. Relevant research data shows that currently in Europe, the application benefits of plastics are 5 to 9 times higher than the emissions in the production and recycling process of plastic products; and 9 to 15 times higher.
The relevant person in charge of the Municipal Trade Office said that although plastic is a renewable resource, it has not received enough attention in recycling. "Some consumers don't use plastic bags after buying them back. This is wasteful behavior, and people should change this concept. At the same time, we must make consumers aware of the value of plastics, and don't throw plastics into the environment at will. Know the role of recycling waste plastics." The person in charge said that the EU attaches great importance to the recycling and utilization of waste plastics. At present, most people in European countries can consciously classify packaging waste.
On how to ensure the sustainable development of the plastics industry, some industry insiders suggest that a joint national action plan be established among plastics manufacturers, processors, retailers and recycling manufacturers. For example, manufacturers need to maintain a good image of plastic products, processors should improve product quality, retailers should strengthen ties with customers through plastic bag exchange programs, recyclers should recycle, etc., improve the industry image by increasing 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 converted into energy, and some can be biodegraded.