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EU prepares to introduce comprehensive microplastic restrictions

The European Commission recently asked the Chemical Agency (ECHA) to prepare a restriction document for Annex XV of REACH, which is expected to restrict intentionally added plastic particles in all consumer products and products for professional use. This requirement is a major focus of the EU's plastics policy, which hopes to reduce the use of plastic particles (plastics with a diameter of less than 5mm) through legislation. Plastic policy is one of the five priorities of the EU action plan to promote circular economy. The focus is to promote the goal of all plastic packaging materials in the EU single market to be recyclable by 2030 and to reduce the use of single-use plastics. ECHA will collect opinions from stakeholders in the first quarter of 2018 to conduct a socio-economic assessment study, and is expected to submit a microplastic restriction document within one year. Microplastic pollution has become a major problem. Although some are intentionally added to products, most are released unintentionally. It is estimated that approximately 3 million tons of microplastics are released into the environment in the EU every year. In its plastic policy, the European Commission has set out measures to combat microplastics, including strengthening supervision and tracking of marine plastic pollution. The European Commission also plans to target specific industries with labeling standards and minimum microplastic release requirements, hoping to comprehensively reduce microplastics entering the environment. These industries include the tire industry, textile industry and painting industry. Recent research shows that there are traces of microplastics in the air, food and even drinking water. The possible negative impact of these microplastics on the human body is still unknown, so the European Commission

2018-03-14

Information disclosure has made progress, corporate sustainability report physical examination: 74% is growing positively

The latest "Reporting matters" report from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) shows that the sustainability reporting of the world's top companies has shown considerable progress. This sustainability report by the World Council on Sustainable Development, covering 157 corporate members from 20 industries, 35 countries, points out that corporate reporting has made significant progress in reporting and information disclosure, and is gradually transforming into digital reporting. Of the corporate reports reviewed by Reporting Matters this year, 74% had overall ratings higher than the 2013 base year, and 79%’s reports recognized the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in some way. On September 25, 2015, governments around the world established 17 sustainable development goals to eliminate poverty, protect the earth, and ensure equal wealth. The deadline for achieving these 17 goals is 2030. The new report shows that 44%’s corporate reports not only publish traditional PDF reports, but also produce online reports. Their performance is better than that of 23% when the World Commission on Sustainable Development first started tracking corporate reports in 2014; 34%’s corporate reports combine financial and non-profit reporting. Financial information is higher than 23% in 2013, of which 22% quoted the International Integrated Reporting Framework. 27

2018-01-22

Denmark asks EU to help close knowledge gap on microplastics

The Danish government strongly urges the European Commission to help narrow the gap in knowledge about microplastics while formulating future EU plastic policies. The Danish government stated that if it is to successfully achieve its microplastic reduction target, the European Commission must strengthen the diffusion of knowledge about microplastics. Only with a strong knowledge base can it effectively promote plastic strategic plans. The negative impact of microplastics on the environment and the process of plastic disintegration into plastic particles in natural and artificial water systems need to be exposed and disseminated to the general public. At present, the source of plastic particles for the general public is nothing more than plastic beads artificially added to personal cleaning products. However, in reality, plastic particles originate from plastic products. They will gradually disintegrate during use and after disposal. environment and water bodies, and gradually cracks into plastic. Therefore, in addition to the source of microplastics, the knowledge of microplastics must also clearly explain their impact in order to arouse public attention to the damage that microplastics may cause to the environment and ecology. In addition to spreading knowledge about microplastics to the public, the Danish government also pointed out that in order to build a new plastics value chain, the industry also needs to have a deeper understanding of microplastics, and the European Commission needs to formulate relevant regulatory frameworks to require companies to comply with the EU's ongoing Planned plastic policy. The Danish government recommends that the following options should be included in the EU plastic policy: ˙ Ban plastic microbeads in personal cleaning products; ˙ Gradually limit the addition of harmful additives and ingredients to plastics; ˙ Let the general public help reduce plastic pollution; ˙ Reduce general solid

2018-01-22

EU Revises Scope of RoHS 2 Directive

On November 21, 2017, the European Union promulgated a new "Directive 2017/2102" in the Official Journal to amend the scope of regulation of "Directive 2011/65/EU" (RoHS 2 Directive). The RoHS 2 directive imposes restrictions on the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. The new directive mainly targets the operations of the secondary market for electrical and electronic equipment, including repair, parts replacement, refurbishment, reuse and transformation. EU legislators believe there is a need to assist the operation of such secondary markets in order to promote a "circular economy". "Circular economy" is a concept that has emerged in recent years. The purpose is to extend the added value of products as much as possible. Even if the products have reached the end of their life, these products or their parts can still be reused, thus reducing waste. The RoHS 2 Directive allows electrical and electronic equipment that is not regulated by Directive 2002/95/EC (RoHS 1 Directive) but does not comply with the provisions of Directive 2011/65/EU (RoHS 2 Directive). On the market until July 22, 2019. After that date, electrical and electronic equipment that violates the RoHS 2 directive will be banned whether it is placed on the market for the first time or for the second time. However, EU legislators now believe that banning the operation of the second market is inconsistent with the general principles behind relevant EU measures, including the circular economy, and therefore needs to be reconsidered. Therefore, the new directive states that if recycling takes place within an auditable, closed-loop business-to-business recycling system and the consumer is informed of the parts

2018-01-22

Create a green star for small and medium-sized enterprises and create a new era of sustainability

In 1987, the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) defined sustainable development in the report "Our Common Future": "A development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." "sustainable development" introduced the concept of sustainable development to the world for the first time. In 2016, the United Nations also adopted the "Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)" as a guide for sustainable development in the next 15 years. In response to the trend of sustainable development, the Small and Medium Enterprises Division of the Ministry of Economic Affairs has promoted the "Green Little Giant Mentoring Program for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises" to guide Taiwan's small and medium-sized enterprises to change their business thinking towards "green innovation" so that economic development can be based on a sustainable environment. Businesses exert their influence and become a positive force for change. A total of 21 enterprises were supported in 2016. These small and medium-sized enterprises have created many green miracles and implemented sustainable development in food, clothing, housing, transportation, and education. They have become a new development route for enterprises and created a new business path. . Green sustainability starts with “preparing for a rainy day” and gradually innovates thinking and actions. Sustainable development is no longer just a slogan. These small and medium-sized enterprises use practical actions to protect the environment: Island Study combines ecology with tourism, and launches low-carbon tourism that roams around the green island, bringing

2018-01-22

Circular fiber report calls for new textile economy

According to a survey report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF), every second, humans discard enough clothes to fill a garbage truck. Therefore, the Circular Fibers Initiative project advocated by EMF has published a sustainability report to promote the new textiles economy. Industry leaders including H&M and Nike also strongly support this project based on circular economy principles. new system. The sustainability report points out that currently, less than 1% of the products manufactured by the global textile industry are recycled and remade into textiles, representing an estimated value of more than $100 billion in materials being recycled each year. waste. Even in Germany, which has a high textile recycling rate, most recycled textiles are exported to other countries without recycling infrastructure, resulting in the waste of final resources. The textile industry mainly consumes non-renewable resources, with a cumulative use of more than 98 million tons of raw materials every year. These non-renewable resources include man-made fibers derived from petroleum, fertilizers used to grow cotton, and chemicals used to make, dye and modify fibers and cloths. Carbon emissions are also a very important environmental issue for the textile industry. In 2015, the global textile industry emitted 1.2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, far exceeding the carbon emissions of the international aviation and shipping industries combined that year.

2018-01-22

SC Johnson reveals skin allergens added to products on website

SC Johnson, one of the leading multinational consumer products brands, announced in mid-2017 that it would begin to fully disclose the list of additives in all products that can cause skin allergies in 2018. Now, on the eve of 2018, SC Johnson has completed an online information disclosure system, listing 368 additives that may cause skin allergies in all products. These products include SC Johnson's brands Glade, Pledge, Mr. Power and Radar, etc. Some of the specific allergens will be directly listed in the product information for the consumer public to inquire. Fisk Johnson, CEO of SC Johnson, said that although the industry also uses similar product ingredients, in order to allow consumers to make informed purchasing decisions, SC Johnson has chosen to increase the transparency of full product information and disclose the list of additives that may cause skin allergies to defend consumers. right to know. This initiative is SC Johnson’s latest product information transparency improvement plan. Prior to this, SC Johnson had already launched an information disclosure project on product ingredients and fragrance additives. The U.S. consumer market has begun to pay attention to product information transparency in recent years. Many NGO groups have joined forces with consumers to jointly require companies to disclose the ingredients added to products to protect consumers' right to know. While consumer product brands are beginning to disclose product ingredients, as a brand product

2018-01-22

Random inspections in Norway found that more than 40% sporting goods contained harmful substances

The Norwegian Environment Directorate (ED) randomly inspected 44 sports and leisure products on the market. The inspection results found that items exceeding 40% contained environmental pollutants, and more than 1/5 of the products contained harmful substances exceeding the permitted value. The Ministry of Environmental Protection said the products must be removed from the market. The sampling products included sports gloves, slippers, yoga mats, mobile phone cases and wallets. The test results found DEHP and short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCP). SCCP was banned by the Norwegian authorities in 2002. Environment Minister Mathieu Veulemans said that the discovery of these environmentally harmful chemicals in sports and leisure products with a very high use rate is a very serious alarm. DEHP and SCCP are both hazardous substances on Norway's national priority chemical list. This hazardous substance restriction list, commonly known as the "criminal list", lists more than 30 persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (persistent, bio-accumulative and toxic (PBT) or very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB) and have endocrine disrupting properties. Hazardous chemicals on this list will gradually be restricted in use by 2020. Source: Chemical Watch (2017-12-15) (PIDC compilation)

2018-01-22

The EU promotes circular economy by restricting hazardous chemicals and encouraging safe alternatives

On December 2, 2015, the European Commission proposed the "Closing the loop – An EU action plan for the Circular Economy", prioritizing the transition from a linear economy to a circular economy. Project, circular economy recycles and re-uses products and material resources, and gives new uses to products or materials. The EU has also successively released implementation reports on the circular economy action plan and established circular economy fund subsidy assessments to encourage investment and innovation. Publish relevant guidelines on waste reuse, and propose a RoHS amendment draft and impact analysis report on the management of hazardous chemicals in electronic and electrical equipment. It can be seen that the EU has made it a top priority to exclude hazardous chemicals from the circular economy. In order to support the EU's circular economy policy, the CEO of ECHA, the competent authority of REACH, stated that it is necessary to find a management balance between valuable materials, recycled materials and hazardous substances that need to be eliminated, and decide whether to specifically manage recycling through new regulations. Substances, the current approach of existing regulatory tools is to prioritize restricting hazardous chemicals from entering the raw material cycle. The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) recommends that existing regulations should effectively and consistently prioritize and encourage

2017-12-06

The new US TSCA law strengthens the existing chemical substances management structure through three stages

The new amendments to the U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that took effect on June 22, 2016, clarify that through a three-stage process: prioritization, risk evaluation, and risk management, To ensure the safety of existing chemical substances and to ensure that assessment or management is carried out within the scope of practical feasibility. In order to support the EU's circular economy policy, the CEO of ECHA, the competent authority of REACH, stated that it is necessary to find a management balance between valuable materials, recycled materials and hazardous substances that need to be eliminated, and decide whether to specifically manage recycling through new regulations. Substances, the current approach of existing regulatory tools is to prioritize restricting hazardous chemicals from entering the raw material cycle. The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) recommends that existing regulations should effectively and consistently prioritize encouraging safe substitutions. These include: ˙ Prioritization: According to the final rule (final rule) signed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on June 22 this year (2017) and announced on July 20, it took effect on September 18, establishing a risk-based A baseline screening process to designate the priority of chemical substances for risk assessment. Factors considered include the potential hazard and exposure (including persistence, bioaccumulation) of chemical substances.

2017-12-06

21 companies voted for Sustainable Earth 2017

Since 2016, the United Nations has used the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals, referred to as SDGs) as the blueprint and guide for sustainable development in the next 15 years, and has listed a total of 17 global sustainable development goals. Taiwan officially established the "Legislative Yuan United Nations Sustainable Development Advisory Committee" on September 26 this year. Externally, it will promote diplomacy based on this; internally, it will review its governance based on the United Nations sustainable development goals. It is obvious that Taiwan has attached great importance to global sustainable development. trend. The Small and Medium Enterprises Division of the Ministry of Economic Affairs has also actively invested in connecting 1.4 million small and medium-sized enterprises with international standards, allowing Taiwanese companies to connect with the international market, strengthen corporate sustainable development and green environmental protection competitiveness, with the "Green Little Giant Mentoring Program for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises" as the The main axis is to guide manufacturers to become "little green giants". Recently, the annual results were displayed in conjunction with the "Mobile Payment Shopping Festival" at Taipei Railway Station. With the theme of "Sustainable Earth Enterprises Like It", many companies including Green Energy, Changxin Plastics, Blue Whale International, etc. exhibited food, clothing, etc. Green and environmentally friendly products in all aspects of housing, transportation, education and entertainment bring the concept of "sustainable and circular economy" closer to people's lives, and encourage the people to pay attention to the green economy, consume green products, create green cash flows, and achieve green manufacturing. Experts from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a global pioneer in circular economy thinking, were recently invited to Taiwan. They also emphasized the "new plastic economy", that is, through a complete cycle, plastic will never become waste. Mutual cooperation in the plastic product value chain industry must be considered starting from the design end

2017-12-06

"Linking GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards and the United Nations SDGs" Green Sustainability Electronic Textbook

The United Nations launched a series of promotion activities for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2016, and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) launched the latest version of the sustainability reporting framework – the GRI Standards – in 2017. Linking the United Nations' 17 sustainable development goals and GRI standards has gradually become a development trend in international corporate social responsibility reports or corporate sustainability reports. In order to provide independent learning and experience observation for small and medium-sized enterprises, the "Linking GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards and United Nations SDGs" green sustainability electronic teaching material has been specially launched to help small and medium-sized enterprises to produce their own corporate reports in accordance with international standards even with streamlined manpower. Sustainability Report. "Linking GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards and the United Nations SDGs" Green Sustainability Electronic Textbook Website: ..https://embed.kumu.io/b0dc95460ef3cd2800efb94261a3461f#gri-sdgs The Small and Medium Enterprises Division of the Ministry of Economic Affairs commissioned the Plastics Center Quality Environment to enhance the green competitiveness of enterprises. The Safety Department implements the "Little Green Giant Mentoring Program for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises" and is committed to assisting manufacturers in complying with international environmental protection requirements and promoting green product design and marketing. If companies are further interested in green-related issues, they can link to the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Green Environmental Protection Information Network Browse http://green.pidc.org.tw/index.php, or contact 0

2017-12-06

Zicheng released the "2017 SDGs Global Survey". 70% companies around the world responded to SDGs but their awareness is still insufficient.

In order to help companies respond to the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and more efficiently identify major issues that can be developed by themselves, the "Discovering SDGs Corporate Sustainability" was co-organized by Zicheng United Accountants and the Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Research and Training Center. Action Forum was held on November 22, 2017. The "PwC Global SDG Reporting Challenge 2017" was released at the meeting, and Jian Youxin, Chairman of the Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Research and Training Center, and Mr. Hans Schoolderman, partner of PwC Netherlands Sustainability Issues, were invited to analyze corporate development. Strategies and plans for the SDGs. Representatives from Xinyi Housing, Cathay Financial Holdings, Far EasTone Telecommunications, Unilever and other companies were also invited to share, hoping to help companies formulate and develop SDGs actions and win at the starting point. According to statistics, in 2017, 43 countries around the world proposed Voluntary National Review Reports (VNRs) on sustainable development goals. In 2018, more countries will propose VNRs. In the future, policies will inevitably affect the development of business activities. This year, PwC conducted a special "PwC SDGs Reporting Challenge 2017" on how companies respond to sustainable development goals. According to the latest research results, 62% of companies are reporting SDGs to stakeholders, which is higher than expected; 37% of them

2017-12-06

China has the ability to exceed its current emission reduction targets in 2023

One was recently published in the environmental science journal Resources, Conservation & Recycling. Research shows that China has the opportunity to control total primary energy consumption at a more reasonable level and achieve carbon emission reduction targets around 2023. Whether China, which accounts for a quarter of global carbon dioxide emissions, can reach its carbon reduction targets as soon as possible is crucial. Yang Fuqiang, senior adviser to the Natural Resources Defense Council, believes that the closer China’s carbon reduction target is to be achieved to 2020, the higher the likelihood that the world’s carbon emission targets announced in 2020 will be achieved. 2020 is generally considered a critical time point for global climate action. If carbon emissions cannot be reduced to the set target in 2020, mankind will face catastrophic consequences such as accelerated sea level rise and worsening extreme weather events. The study, co-authored by Yuan Jiahai, a professor at the School of Economics and Management at North China Electric Power University, and Liu Qilin, a visiting researcher at the Asia Research Center at the University of Pittsburgh, will focus on China's energy consumption. Carbon dioxide accounts for 77% of global greenhouse gases, and more than 90% of carbon dioxide comes from energy consumption. Therefore, carbon emission reduction from energy consumption is the primary task of mitigating climate change. China's nationally determined contribution goal submitted to the United Nations in 2015 is to strive to achieve the country's carbon dioxide emissions reduction target by 2030, and to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by 60% – 65% compared with 2005. Yuan Jiahai announced

2017-12-06

EU REACH investigation report found that many plasticizers in toys exceeded the standard

An investigation report to be released by the EU REACH enforcement agency found that one out of five toys inspected on the market was found to contain phthalates that did not comply with EU regulations and contained excessive amounts. REACH-En-Force-4 (Ref-4), an enforcement unit under the EU ECHA, surveyed the products on the market in 29 countries for the 14 hazardous substance restriction specifications in Appendix 17 of REACH and found the following five major categories of non-compliance with REACH Violations: ˙ Among 464 toy products, 19.7% was found to contain phthalates such as DEHP, DBP and BBP exceeding the limit; ˙ Among 86 items of brazing fillers, 14.4% was found to have cadmium; ˙ 213 items Among the finished products, 13.6% was found to contain asbestos; ˙ Among 467 leather products, 13.3% was found to contain hexavalent chromium; ˙ Among 124 items of jewelry, 12.1% was found to contain cadmium. The supervisor of Ref-4 said that a total of 5,625 items were sampled for inspection in this survey, of which 17 items were substances, 1,009 items were mixtures, and the other 4,599 items were finished products. Moreover, in order to cope with the current changes in consumer purchasing behavior, approximately 20% of the above 5,625 items were purchased in online shopping malls to reflect current consumer behavior. We hereby urge Taiwanese small and medium-sized enterprise manufacturers to sell their products and parts to the EU to confirm whether the raw materials and processing processes contain hazardous substances specified in the REACH directive. If the products or processes must be added, they must

2017-12-06

EU extends the validity of exemption provisions of RoHS 2 directive

On October 31, 2017, the European Union promulgated a new law in the Official Journal to amend Directive 2011/65/EU, commonly known as the RoHS 2 Directive. The RoHS 2 Directive restricts businesses from using certain hazardous substances, including cadmium, in electrical and electronic equipment. The newly promulgated "European Commission Authorization Directive No. 2017/1975" amends Annex III of the "RoHS 2 Directive". The annex lists various exemptions for banned hazardous substances. This revision involves the exemptions available for the use of cadmium in color-changing light-emitting diodes (LEDs) of current display devices. The directive pointed out that item 39 of Annex III of the RoHS 2 Directive stipulates that the use of cadmium in color-changing LEDs in light-emitting and display equipment is exempted until July 1, 2014. The European Commission received an application to extend the exemption period before January 1, 2013. According to Article 5 of the RoHS 2 Directive, the European Commission may add or extend exemptions in certain circumstances, including when there are doubts about the reliability of alternatives to restricted substances, or when the alternatives have environmental, human health and safety concerns. The benefits cannot make up for the overall adverse effects in these three areas. The directive points out that color-changing LEDs using quantum dots have proven to be superior to previous technologies in terms of energy saving and color performance. Compared with other existing alternative technologies, using cadmium-containing quantum dots in display devices consumes less energy, so the overall benefits outweigh the disadvantages. At the same time, if the display device using quantum dots is changed to

2017-12-06

Costco strengthens implementation of chemical substance management policy

Costco, a well-known wholesale chain in the United States, announced that it will cooperate with the Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry (BCGC) to promote chemical substance management policies. At the beginning of this year (2017), Costco also issued a statement that it would launch a hazardous substances screening project to inspect and evaluate the chemical substances in its products, but the statement did not mention the hazardous chemicals targeted by these inspections and assessments. According to the latest news on Costco's website, the newly launched chemical substance management policy will not be limited to current regulatory compliance, but will conduct safety assessments from the source materials, manufacturing processes, consumer use and disposal stages, and hopes to sell its own products. It will not have any negative impact on the human body and the environment. The chemical substances management policy currently focuses specifically on flame retardants, phosphophthalates and perfluorinated chemicals. Costco plans to encourage its suppliers to gain a deeper understanding of the chemicals used in the manufacturing of their products so that they can: ˙ Identify SVHC (through a comprehensive testing program); ˙ Remove identified SVHC and Replace with safe chemicals; ˙ Identify whether suppliers use processes that use substances of high concern, and replace the addition of hazardous substances with other innovative processes; ˙ Review green certificates issued by third-party impartial organizations. Costco stated that it will cooperate with BCGC in the long term to develop a complete set of hazardous substances assessment and restriction strategies, and coordinate

2017-12-06

Hong Kong Eco Show Observation: The trend of building energy saving moves towards IoT management and data analysis

Green building certification began in various countries in the 1990s. Since then, it has evolved from using environmentally friendly building materials and being environment-friendly to focusing on energy conservation. Now it is also pursuing integration into the local area, so that it is not just the building itself that is environmentally friendly. At the 2017 Hong Kong Eco Expo, it can be found that many construction-related exhibitors have proposed the Internet of Things and data analysis to assist safety and energy management services. Among green building materials, many have launched their own research and development of thermal insulation coatings. , to reduce the need for air conditioning. "Ninety percent of electricity in Hong Kong is used indoors," reminded Kan Hanpeng, director of the property development department of Schneider Electric. Chan Wing-kang, executive director of the Hong Kong Green Building Council, also pointed out that currently, two-thirds of Hong Kong's energy waste occurs in buildings. "Energy efficiency is an energy resource owned by every country." Chen Yongkang emphasized that as long as energy efficiency is improved, any country can have enough energy. Chan Wing-kang pointed out that Hong Kong is currently facing a situation where although the energy efficiency of hardware has gradually improved, the number of electrical appliances continues to increase. Overall, energy consumption is still increasing. Therefore, Hong Kong is currently moving toward using information and data to allow builders, technology, and property management industries to work together to save energy. Jian Hanpeng used a smart bracelet for health management to explain the Internet of Things system applied in buildings. It also relies on setting up sensors to wirelessly transmit data, and accordingly make timely adjustments to air conditioning, lighting, and electrical appliances. The goal is to Buildings that assist users can be 3 times more energy efficient. For example, it is detected that someone turns on the lights and air conditioner,

2017-12-06

DOMI’s environmental dream

The Executive Yuan approved the "Green Energy Industry Leap Plan" on August 6, 2020, focusing resources on promoting four main industries including solar photovoltaics, LED lighting optoelectronics, wind power generation, and energy information and communications, combining Taiwan's information and communications, semiconductors, and electromechanical and materials and other related industries have a solid foundation and advantages. With the manufacturing service-oriented thinking, we will expand the system service industry towards the downstream, expand the output energy of overseas systems, quickly integrate into the global division of labor layout, and create new driving forces for the growth of the green energy industry. Green Energy has focused on the market of the green energy industry, created the DOMI brand, and is committed to using existing technological products to reduce energy use. At the same time, through a series of environmental education activities and tree planting parties, Green Energy will contribute to the development of this land in Taiwan. Love and care are sown into the hearts of children, truly passing on environmental conservation. Lian Tingkai, co-founder of Green Energy, said that he would establish such a company mainly for the sake of the next generation. In the past, he worked and lived in Beijing for many years and did not have much feeling about air pollution until he heard that his colleague’s daughter had been coughing. After a doctor’s diagnosis, he found that the lungs were damaged due to inhaling unclean air. She had been coughing for 2 years. He couldn't do strenuous exercise for a long time. It was then that he, who had children, realized that being in such an environment would really affect his health. So after he returned to Taiwan with his good friends, everyone kept thinking about what they wanted to do for the next generation. At this time, the documentary "Seeing Taiwan" happened to be released. The content of the film shocked them greatly. Once upon a time, "home" It was actually full of scars and covered with layers of pollution, which made this group of people even more

2017-12-06

Polystyrene (PS) is so harmful that Hong Kong is actively looking for alternative materials for fish boxes

Researchers in Hong Kong are working to cut off a major source of marine plastic: polystyrene (PS) plastic foam boxes widely used in the fishing industry. Scientific research shows that PS is harmful to both marine life and human health, but the fishery industry has been slow to respond. The problem is that if alternative materials want to be widely used, they must be as easy to use and cheap as PS. The most typical PS product is a white foam-like material called foam plastic, which is widely used in various food containers, coffee cups, bean bags, and even insulation materials. An industry report shows that as one of the most commonly used materials in the world, PS production reached 17.5 million tons in 2014. Among them, more than 40% are consumed in the Asia-Pacific region. Dr. Chelsea Rochman, a marine ecologist from the University of Toronto, said: "If we can avoid using one plastic product, it should be polystyrene. Styrofoam plastic is the most common type of garbage that washes up on the coast. The material is not sustainable, so there is no reason to continue using it.” The problem starts with production. PS is made from the polymerization of two raw materials, styrene and benzene, and is made into foamed plastic after foaming treatment. It is well known that both styrene and benzene are carcinogens. In addition, toxic flame retardants are sometimes added to foam plastic products. These toxic substances will leach out of plastic products during the heating process, so environmentalists around the world recommend not using PS in food packaging. american events

2017-12-06
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