Recently, the State Post Bureau released data showing that in 2017 the national express business volume completed 40.1 billion pieces, up 28%; business income completed 495 billion yuan, up 24.5%. The country's total annual express delivery volume exceeded 40 billion in record time, meaning that domestic express parcel distribution has entered the era of 100 million daily average.
Applied to the major courier companies in the plastic bag is how to produce? Does the production process comply with the relevant standards? Such a bag to the people, to the environment will bring what harm? In this regard, the reporter on the courier bag industry chain for the depth of the research interview.
During the interview, the reporter experienced an important link in the production of raw materials for plastic bags: the door is closed, the lights are dim, 300 square meters of the plant is full of various types of garbage, these garbage will be processed into a kind of raw material called "recycled material", commonly known as blowing material; and these "Recycled materials" will be used to produce our daily touch of express bags, commonly known as blown film. In order to escape the inspection of government regulators at all levels, the production line of this plant is not regularly opened.
"Recycled material" processing threshold is low, low cost, environmental pollution
Currently, China's express delivery plastic bag industry chain links are "their own", and did not form a "raw material production - use - the use of plastic bags. "Raw material production - use - recycling" resource cycle, and "raw material production" is both the source and the most Easily overlooked key links. In the industry, the production of plastic bags for express delivery of raw materials are generally divided into three kinds: recycled materials, new materials and environmental protection materials. Obviously, the cost of environmental protection material is the most expensive, the cost of recycled material is the lowest, which is why many manufacturers choose recycled material to produce bags.
In Alibaba's 1688 procurement wholesale platform, the reporter also got the relevant evidence. Through the keyword "courier bags" search, dozens of manufacturers to arrange, selected with the order of sales, the highest transaction cumulative turnover of more than 3 million packages, the courier bags of the obvious source of "back to the material", that is, recycled materials.
Purchasing platform shows: most of the materials sold courier bags are "recycled materials".
In this regard, the reporter asked a number of production and sale of plastic bags for express delivery of enterprises, many enterprises said that now very few do environmental protection materials, and used as express delivery of plastic bags are basically the cheapest recycled materials, the market demand is large, the supply is also sufficient, recycled materials can be shipped the same day, if you are to buy a new material needs to be ordered in advance.
The process of using recycled materials to produce courier bags is not in itself a violation of the law, but the garbage raw materials used to produce recycled materials is confusing and difficult to trace its source. "The non-compliant recycled materials are the fundamental source of these 'toxic' courier bags." An industry insider, who asked not to be named, told People's Daily.
"Medical waste and chemical waste are the main sources of these recycled materials. A lot of medical waste is unwashed and contains a large number of potentially infectious materials of viruses and bacteria; while chemical waste is only useful for making plastic bags. Therefore, the production lines of recycled materials are mostly hidden in remote villages, which are not easy to be detected by regulators." The industry source said.
A few hundred square meters of hidden plant, a few tens of thousands of dollars worth of simple machines, a day down to the production of about 2 tons of recycled materials, such low processing costs also let a lot of unscrupulous people this rush. The pollution generated by the plastic recycling process is also often reported: non-compliance with illegal sewage discharge will cause serious pollution of local groundwater, soil, agriculture, etc.; the processing of a large number of toxic gases emitted will also pollute the air, affecting the health of the people ......
Exclusive unannounced visit: Back to the material processing hiding garbage raw materials from unknown
The reporter went to the East China region, where there are a large number of express packaging production enterprises. Among them, in Jinhua and Yiwu border town of Xiaoshun, there are many production of express plastic bags distributed enterprises.
In a medium-sized packaging processing plant, the reporter saw the production process of courier bags. 5 machines, working at the same time, can produce more than a dozen tons a day. Next to the machine, there is a large pile of raw materials, part of the raw material is also written on the "do not use" three words. When the reporter asked the source of these raw materials, the staff is slightly mysterious: "These raw materials from all over the world, are the boss's old friends, we do not know the specifics."
Enterprises use recycled materials to produce plastic bags for express delivery.
The reporter found that the town of Xiaoshun in the industrial zone can easily find the production of express bags of enterprises, did not see the upstream production of raw materials plant. But the reporter got a positive answer from this packaging processing plant: in Jindong District, near the East Yellow Line, there are hidden workshops in the production of the so-called recycled materials.
After a visit, the reporter learned from the mouth of a garbage collection station staff of the few recycled materials processing plant, and obtained a processing plant owner Ren's phone number. And what the reporter saw next also just confirmed the aforementioned industry sources.
Ren told reporters by phone, recently they produce raw materials in the market demand, due to the local safety supervision, environmental protection, industry and commerce inspectors everywhere, many recycled materials processing plant are closed down, only his family business hidden in the village, more remote, can also supply.
"Our raw materials (recycled materials) in short supply, the price of 7500 yuan a ton, you want goods, you have to book in advance." Ren said on the phone.
Subsequently, the reporter to view the specific finished product as the reason to learn the specific location of the plant. From the center of Jinhua, along the East Yellow Line drive more than 20 kilometers, in a marked "Jingyanggang" bus stop sign at the intersection of the north into a rugged dirt road, seven turns around 2 kilometers, the reporter saw several rows of plants standing in the fields.
The hidden recycled material plant and the output of recycled material.
The reporter asked on the spot and learned that one of them was Ren's processing plant, but the door was closed. For the reporter to open the door is an old man, "We are still in production two days ago, the wind is tighter these two days, it stopped working, you first look at it," said the old man.
The 300-square-meter plant is dimly lit and most of the space is occupied by various kinds of garbage. In the center of the plant is a very old machine, next to the production of dark blue recycled materials. The reporter visually estimated that the recycling material stored in the plant is about 5 tons.
"Now the government check the strict, closed down a lot of factories, now the market demand for our raw materials is very large, our machine can produce about 2 tons a day. Get enough to make 20-30 tons a car and ship it out." The old man told reporters.
The reporter then asked the old man, the production line for the production of recycled materials of garbage through formal channels? In this regard, the old man is very secretive: "We do in this village for four or five years, these garbage raw materials are many years of relations sent over, the price is cheap, the market simply can not buy."
The unknown origin of raw materials is the key to the production of express "toxic" packaging. In this regard, the Beijing Institute of Printing, Qingdao, vice president of the Research Institute Zhu Lei that the courier plastic bags of toxic and hazardous substances from a number of sources, such as heavy metals, printing COD (chemical oxygen demand) emissions, sticky powder or dioxin and other plasticizers carcinogens, in addition to biological and medical waste, chemical plants and other microbial populations, will be the environment and the human body will bring certain hazards.
Industry calls for the express industry to promote green packaging
Reporter interviews found that the vast majority of the express plastic bags in the recycling process also produces a certain amount of harm to the environment and human body. It is understood that the courier plastic packaging generated by the harmful waste buried in the ground degradation cycle of more than 200 years, and will contaminate the soil and groundwater; and courier garbage in the incineration will produce dioxin, a serious danger to human health, the atmosphere caused by pollution.
In addition, many of the recycled materials are made from unwashed medical waste and useless chemical waste as raw materials, so it will also jeopardize the long-term contact with hundreds of thousands of courier bags courier.
In this regard, the industry suggested that China is currently in the supermarket shopping bags on the ban of recycled materials, but also hope that the entire field of express delivery ban recycled materials. With the rapid development of the e-commerce network, couriers, consumers and courier plastic bags of contact more and more, the health of the body will be jeopardized.
Zhu Lei also said that the use of recycled materials is in line with the concept of circular economy, because it is the use of plastic waste recycling reuse, "but to do a good job of waste classification, to avoid toxic and harmful carcinogenic substances into the recycled recycling material inside." He said.
In this regard, Zhu Lei suggested to clarify the definition and standards for the use of green bags in the express delivery industry, accelerate the third-party inspection and testing organizations, so that the government's supervision and testing is more justified; in addition, it should also be established to assess the green packaging system, and to increase the promotion of pilot experience.
Huang Zhigang, dean of the School of Materials and Mechanical Engineering at Beijing Technology and Business University, believes that the economic and environmental significance of biodegradable materials is gradually emerging, and that the use of biodegradable materials is an inevitable trend in terms of the general trend.
The 19th CPC National Congress report emphasized that "the formation of spatial pattern, industrial structure, production mode and lifestyle to conserve resources and protect the environment".
Practice tells us that out of this dilemma, the need to *** knowledge more need to be implemented, in addition to enhance the consumer's concept of green life, but also rely on the industry's environmental technology innovation, the relevant departments of the regulatory policy. For the express delivery industry produces a large amount of plastic waste, a number of government authorities have also made a useful exploration.
On November 2, 2017, He Lifeng, director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said that the NDRC will work with relevant departments to adjust the "plastic restriction order", and study and formulate the relevant implementation plan to take the lead in restricting the use of a series of non-biodegradable plastic packages in the takeaway and other industries.
Also on the same day, the State Post Bureau, the National Development and Reform Commission and other 10 departments jointly issued the "on the concerted promotion of green packaging in the express delivery industry guidance" (hereinafter referred to as the "views"), "views" pointed out that will be in accordance with the "government-led, social participation, innovation-driven, the source governance, classification guidance, tailored to local conditions
In addition, the "Opinions" also proposed that in 2020, the proportion of biodegradable green packaging materials application will reach 50%, the basic elimination of heavy metals and other special substances exceeding the standard packaging materials, the use of electronic waybill to reach more than 90%, an average of each piece of courier packaging consumables to reduce the more than 10%.