The Battle Of Garbage Classification Started! Textile Circular Economy Is Promising, And Calls For Relevant Policies To Follow Up

On July 1, Shanghai launched the first shot of garbage classification. Since then, the curtain of garbage classification in China has been slowly opened.

The purpose of garbage classification is to improve the resource value and economic value of garbage, and strive to make the best use of everything. It is related to the improvement of people's living environment and the overall situation of green and sustainable development. Seemingly small, it is a big civilization.

Today, Shanghai has taken the lead in incorporating waste classification into the legal framework, so the pace of waste classification in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen... other cities in China will not be far away. According to the news released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development, by 2020, 46 key cities in China will have basically completed domestic waste classification and treatment systems. By 2025, cities at prefecture level and above in China will have basically completed a waste classification and treatment system.

For the textile industry, what are the opportunities and challenges after waste classification?

As a kind of recyclable resource, waste textiles can save a lot of textile raw materials if effectively used, thus alleviating the problem of oil consumption and land shortage; At the same time, it also reduces the harmful gas emissions generated during the incineration of textile wastes and the land pollution caused by landfill. Therefore, the recycling of old clothes is of great significance to the natural environment and society.

Free from the choice between "value" and "price"

The reporter saw in the details of waste classification in Shanghai that old clothes belong to recyclable materials. It is worth noting that old underwear and towels belong to dry waste (other waste); In addition, napkins, diapers and other industrial textiles belong to dry waste. Although sanitary napkins and facial masks are not marked in the figure, they are basically made of cotton and non-woven fabrics. Because they are disposable, they have no recyclable value and also belong to dry waste (other waste). As for degradable materials, masks made of environmentally friendly fibers such as Lyocell are treated the same as soiled paper.

In addition, there are also relatively large pieces of garbage, such as beds, mattresses, sofas, etc. in the home textile field, which should be recycled at designated places and cannot be put into domestic garbage. In other words, recyclable textiles are mainly concentrated in old clothes.

In an interview with the reporter of Textile and Clothing Weekly, Cheng Xuan, director of the Office of the Environmental Protection and Resource Conservation Promotion Committee of the China Textile Industry Federation, said that every family in Shanghai needs to add more than 10 new clothes every year. According to the Shanghai Statistics Bureau's population of 24.18 million in 2017 and China's per capita textile consumption of 21 kg, Shanghai produces about 520000 tons of waste clothing every year, However, according to the data obtained from the current research in Shanghai, the scale of Shanghai's access to the recycling system is only about 1.2 kg per person per year, of which some old fabrics will be donated, donated or stored at home. How to deal with such a huge scale of waste textiles in the past?

It is understood that, except for a small part of recycling, most of the waste textiles in China are still mainly incinerated and buried. At the same time, there are also some pieces of cloth that can be re processed into various products through shearing, or recycled products can be produced through secondary design; About 15% of them are recycled, that is, waste textiles are made into recycled fibers by physical or chemical methods.

Not long ago, Tong Liya was wearing a long skirt of H&M, which attracted wide attention. This skirt with exquisite cutting, elegant patterns and silky draping feeling was actually made from plastic bottles washed up by the coast and a large number of waste materials.

In the textile field, many enterprises in China have successfully mass produced recycled fibers. For example, Zhejiang Jiaren New Material Co., Ltd., the first and leading chemical recycling technology, restores the recycled old clothes to molecular level through chemical treatment, completely removes color and fine impurities, and regenerates new high-quality polyester fibers with the same original fibers for new clothing and textile manufacturing; Tangshan Sanyou uses 50% of the raw materials from recycled cotton fabrics after consumption to produce a new viscose staple fiber... It is not difficult to predict that the promotion of waste classification will promote waste textiles to become a new industry.

However, the reuse of waste textiles has not been fully explored. Cheng pointed out that in terms of "waste", China can basically achieve the reuse of textile products and has a complete industrial chain, but in terms of "old", China still lacks a complete recycling system, sorting, distribution and other industrial chains to match it, and has not yet formed a good cycle.

What are the difficulties in recycling waste textiles? Cheng Xuan said that the recovery cost of waste textiles, including collection, transportation, disinfection, decomposition and other links, will incur a lot of costs. It is also a consensus in the industry that the treatment cost is high. Many enterprises still consider the choice of "value" and "price", and the "sunshine" of materials is also a problem facing the industrial development. In fact, in addition to the processing cost, the reuse of fiber is also a difficult point that needs to be overcome by the industry. For example, some pure cotton fabrics can be easily reused, but polyester fabrics have blending, so the field of their reuse should be determined according to their blending ratio. So how to identify the blending proportion, which materials are blended, whether they can be carbonized and whether they can be pressed for use are all problems that need to be solved urgently.

Tang Shijun, director of the Institute of Quartermaster Equipment of the General Logistics Department, also said that textile recycling enterprises are small individual enterprises, and they work independently. No large leading enterprises are engaged in large-scale, high-value, resource-based recycling. At present, several latest recycling methods, such as degassing melting and re polymerization technology for polyester clothing; Alcoholysis, separation and re polymerization technology for polyester and cotton clothing; Solvent recovery and separation technology for multi-component blended clothing. At present, most domestic enterprises have not reached the advanced recycling technology level. As a new industry, the waste textile industry has a long way to go in the future.

The night before recycling, those who are not ready

In recent years, although the country attaches great importance to resource conservation and the development of circular economy, China is still in the primary stage without large-scale and industrialization, and lacks relevant policy support.

In terms of the recycling of waste textiles, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Japan and other countries started in the early 20th century, and adopted relevant laws and policies to support and encourage the recycling of waste textiles.

During World War I, the British government issued regulations allowing charities to recycle and reuse waste materials, and gradually formulated and improved relevant laws and regulations. At present, many charities in the UK have obtained business licenses, mostly engaged in the recycling of old clothes, selling old clothes to people in need at a low price, and using the funds raised to help vulnerable groups; In 2000, Japan announced the Basic Act on Promoting the Formation of a Recycling Society, aiming to establish a "recycling society". In short, it refers to a society that consumes natural resources and minimizes environmental load. After years of joint efforts by the Japanese government, the waste fiber export trade union and the national waste trade union, Japanese consumers have not refused to buy or accept used clothes. By 2014, the recovery rate of waste textiles in Japan exceeded 20%.

At present, because there are still many potential safety hazards, China does not allow the trade of waste textiles, and there are few textile recycling enterprises led by the government. As we all know, standards and relevant laws and regulations are required to restrict and guide textile recycling. In view of the fact that the recycling of waste textiles is still in a gray area, some insiders also call for strong support from the state in policy, and set standards for the recycling of waste textiles as soon as possible.

According to Cheng Hao, in the past, the recycling of waste textiles was mostly based on the relevant standards such as the Classification and Code of Waste Plastics and the Technical Specification for Recycling of Waste Plastics. However, because most of the textiles were blended, they still lacked applicability.

In view of the current pilot waste classification in Shanghai, waste textiles will be able to be classified and distributed more intensively, which will usher in a new era of government led waste textile trade. On the eve of the industrialization and scale of waste textiles, is the government ready? Cheng Hao suggested that the relevant responsible agencies in Shanghai should be given certain tax policies and bear relevant costs to drive the industry's enthusiasm in recycling. At the same time, the government can provide support in many aspects, such as product green identification and green procurement.

In the field of terminal consumption, Cheng Hao suggested using the Internet+to encourage consumers to produce textiles they no longer need by means of "discount coupons" and other means while consumers are consuming. On the one hand, this can enable enterprises to fulfill their corporate social responsibilities well, and also allow more people to participate.

Fashion goes fast, but "reuse" has to slow down

In 2018, the China Textile Joint Environment and Assets Supervision and Administration Commission put forward the special action of waste textile down, which is currently being implemented. This special action has carried out special design and R&D in terms of solving related equipment R&D, industrial chain docking, standard formulation, product certification, etc. It has been installed in place and is expected to be put into production in October November this year. The launch of this action will create a replicable model of circular economy in the down field.

In the next stage, the China Textile Joint Environment and Assets Supervision and Administration Commission will also pilot more ideas on the recycling of waste textiles in Shanghai. At the same time, it will also start with school uniforms, brand green design and other aspects, advocate green lifestyle and green consumption ideas, promote the resource utilization of urban waste textiles, and promote the development of green circular economy in the textile industry.

In 2018, China's consumption of textile raw materials reached 58.5 million tons, accounting for more than 55% of the world. The import volume of textile raw materials in China is more than 65%, and the output of waste textiles is 26 million tons/year. With the reduction of oil and the expansion of population, the contradiction between cotton and grain for land has become increasingly prominent. The major challenge facing China's textile industry is the shortage of raw materials.

Take cotton as an example. On average, a T-shirt uses about 60 grams of cotton. Cotton planting takes up land and uses pesticides. If old clothes are recycled or recycled fibers are produced, it will help reduce cotton consumption and alleviate the problem of insufficient domestic raw material resources.

Sun Huaibin, vice president of the China Textile Industry Federation, pointed out that to clarify the resource attributes of waste textiles, the industrialization of renewable resources at the end of China has not achieved an effective docking with the classification and recycling mode of urban waste. As the largest textile country in the world, China has the most complete production system and technical support R&D institutions. If it carries out industrial docking with the recycling and resource utilization of urban waste textiles, and establishes a reasonable layout and a sorting center based on industrial utilization, it will help to improve the high value utilization of waste textile resources. We encourage any demand, product It is of great significance to form a complete industrial chain for recycling of waste textile resources and promote the formation of a green development mode.

As fashion moves faster and faster, can we slow down to examine our consumption and advocate a simple, moderate, green and low-carbon lifestyle? As consumers, rational consumption and environmental protection are very important for waste textiles.