In order to promote the recycling of plastics, the Resource Recycling Administration of the Ministry of Environment announced on the 9th that plastic container products are planned to comply with the three elements of green design, including single material, simple color, small label, and the use of recycled materials. For materials up to 25%, you can enjoy up to 30% off on plastic recycling and removal fees. The new preferential rates are expected to be completed in the first half of 2024 and implemented in the second half of the same year. Youhuan Tuan believes that promoting recycling containers is the most efficient solution to reduce resource consumption and carbon emissions.
Front-end design must consider back-end recycling processing
The Ministry of Environment (formerly the Environmental Protection Agency) announced the "Key Points for Promotion of Plastic Recycled Products for Non-Filled Foods" at the end of 2022 to encourage companies to use recycled materials. So far, nine types of plastic recycled products have passed the review. This time, the Department of Resources and Recycling launched a "green rate" preferential program for related plastic container products to encourage companies to voluntarily use green designs or use recycled materials.
In terms of green design, conditions must include the use of 30% of a single material, original color or transparency, no label or the label height is less than/equal to the bottle height. As for the use of recycled materials, it is necessary to promote the operation points of plastic recycled products for non-filled food through the Ministry of Environment, and to provide PET recycled ester pellet raw materials for food container packaging through the Ministry of Health and Welfare. If you meet any of the two requirements, you can enjoy a 15% discount on the original rate; if you meet both requirements, you can enjoy a 30% discount.
Xu Xiangrui, manager of the Plastic Industry Technology Development Center, said that single materials are relatively simple to recycle. If different materials are mixed, recyclers must use more manpower and investment for sorting, which reduces the industry's willingness to recycle. After plastics have been recycled several times, there will be more and more impurities and the color will become darker. From the perspective of recyclers, white and original color plastics have wider uses and better recycling prices, while dark or black plastics The recycling price is poor, which will affect the willingness to recycle.
Regarding labels, he gave the example that recycling sites must hire people to separate labels from containers. "It's not cost-effective, the cost is too high, and many of these items will not be recycled in the end." He said that when the front-end design considers the back-end recycling processing, the containers will have a better chance of being recycled and regenerated.
Environmental groups: recycling containers are most efficient
Wang Yuebin, deputy director of the Department of Resources and Recycling, said that based on the current recycling and disposal fee of 7 to 10 yuan per kilogram for plastic containers, a 30% discount of 2 to 3 yuan will save 2,000 yuan in processing fees for recycling containers equivalent to 1 ton; it is estimated that All 15,000 plastic container recycling operators in Taiwan have the opportunity to benefit. my country's target for the proportion of recycled materials used is 25% in 2025 and 30% in 2030. It is expected that the use of recycled materials will increase by 24,000 tons in 2025, and the carbon reduction amount can reach 48,000 tons.
As for the use of green design and recycled materials that may increase costs and prices and reflect them on consumers, Wang Yuebin believes that the impact on the market will not be great. "(Green production) must be done this way. It is a necessary trend in the future. In the past three years, In the past five years, we have used discounts to encourage businesses to start, which is a necessary transformation." He also cited the example of many people bringing their own drinking cups and believed that people's environmental awareness and actions are increasing.
Greenpeace project director Zhang Kaiting believes that adding recycled materials to plastic container products is not the best approach. "Recycling containers are the most efficient solution to reduce resource consumption and carbon emissions." Chen Zirong, director of the Taiwan Environmental Information Association's Issue Center, also said that only by encouraging refilling or recycling rental service models can we effectively change the problem of disposable items and large amounts of waste. Regarding the Ministry of Environment's promotion of recycled materials, she reminded that in addition to quality and data control, "you must also pay attention to whether there will be malicious production of scraps in the market to make recycled materials to obtain price differences."
Source:
Environmental Information Center
