China’s plastics recycling rate reaches 30%

Asia – China has seen growth in domestic collection and utilisation of plastic scrap, according to Ning Hongtao, president of the plastics recycling committee (PRC) of the China Plastics Processing Industry Association.

Speaking at the Chinaplas 2014 expo held recently in Shanghai, Hongtao also suggested that the drop in imported plastics scrap resulting from last year’s Green Fence initiative – figured at 1 million tonnes – ‘was not as big as forecasted’. Out of last year’s 24.9 million tonnes of recycled plastics, 30% was imported – with the EU being China’s largest overseas source, according to PRC data.

Within the Chinese plastics recycling industry, more than 40% of the total volume is handled by medium-sized or large companies that are mostly located in the coastal regions, according to Hongtao. China’s plastics recycling rate has been on a steady uptrend over the past five years, reaching 30% in 2013.

The biggest challenge for the future of plastics recycling in China is to promote better regulated and larger recyclers, Hongtao stressed. More than 3000 companies in China are registered to import and process waste plastics while the total number of plastics recyclers in China exceeds 10 000, he added.

Source: Plastics News