In order to implement the relevant requirements of the law of the people's Republic of China on the prevention and control of environmental pollution by solid waste and the notice of the general office of the State Council on printing and distributing the implementation scheme of the extended producer responsibility system for paper-based composite packaging for beverages (hereinafter referred to as the scheme) was drafted and formulated by the four departments.

So, what kind of system is EPR? What is the benefit of waste management? What are the foreign explorations and attempts in this field? This edition of special issue issues related reports for readers.

The earliest reference to extended producer responsibility (EPR) can be traced back to the "waste recycling and Management Bill" put forward by the Swedish government in 1975. In 1988, the organization for economic cooperation and development (OECD) published the EPR framework report, which defined it as an environmental policy approach, characterized by "transferring responsibility to the upstream of producers, and providing incentives and incentives for producers to consider environmental factors when designing products."

With the high development of economy and society, the responsibility of EPR is constantly enriched. From the beginning, producers try to use renewable materials and reduce environmental hazards in production, to now, the responsibility has gone beyond the product itself, and even involves the construction of recycling system. Producers not only have the responsibility to develop related technologies, but also need to disclose product information to the society.

Germany: the first country to take EPR as the requirement for packaging management, to establish a comprehensive collection network covering three kinds of garbage collection points

In the 1980s, European recycling and Recycling Association (ecrr) carried out packaging recycling pilot projects in eight EU countries, but this project failed. Many leading enterprises have tried various ways to achieve the recycling goal, so some EU countries began to formulate their own public policies, requiring enterprises to fulfill their responsibilities for the packaging of their products.

Germany is the first country to take EPR as the requirement of packaging management. Fearing that the country's landfills are shrinking, Germany quickly set a key goal: to reduce the use of resources by creating strategies to reduce packaging consumption.

In June 1991, the German government promulgated the "Regulations on the management of packaging waste", which for the first time comprehensively stipulated the reuse and utilization ratio of waste packaging, and forced manufacturers and distributors to be responsible for the recycling and treatment of their product packaging. If businesses want to fulfill the recycling obligations without doing so, they need to pay the relevant fees, and the designated organization is responsible for the recycling of waste packaging. But at the same time, some retailers and suppliers can choose independently and establish long-term cooperation with professional waste packaging treatment institutions. Due to different needs and positioning, most German enterprises producing and importing packaging seek cooperation with professional institutions to achieve flexible and efficient packaging recycling.

The first organization to manage the packaging recycling system in Germany was the Duales System Deutschland (DSD). DSD charges manufacturers and distributors a license fee to use the "green dot" or "greuner Punkt" logo on packaging, indicating that such packaging is allowed to be placed in a specific recycling system. At the same time, the cost of each material is calculated according to the recovery cost. In this way, producers are encouraged to use recyclable materials with lower cost as much as possible and reduce packaging quantity to reduce relevant costs.

Germany's recycling system includes the most common roadside system, with plastics, composites, aluminum and steel placed in yellow bags or bins provided to families. Paper and cardboard are collected in a single blue box at a container station near your home or community. In retail stores selling "green dot" packaging products, collection stations are also provided for green dot waste. 95% of the German population has access to roadside collection facilities and other convenient recycling facilities, and the sites are also set up in commercial areas, residential areas and other convenient places for consumers.

In Germany, all residential areas or residential buildings are equipped with three kinds of basic dustbins to recycle organic waste, light packaging and paper products respectively. There are special bins for recycling glass products in every block. There are usually three colors of green, brown and white to recycle glass bottles of three corresponding colors. As for other domestic wastes such as decoration materials, they often need to be discarded to designated disposal sites. Germany gradually established a comprehensive collection network covering residential areas, blocks and designated disposal points.

The continuous improvement of EPR regulations has a positive impact on increasing recycling and reducing energy consumption in Germany. Through decades of experience, Germany has become a leader in the development of new classification and recycling technologies.

Belgium, Canada: establish and optimize waste recycling system at local or provincial level

Belgium has been repeatedly cited as a successful case of EPR in packaging and recycling due to its unified packaging system and high recovery rate. Domestic waste collection in Belgium is a municipal responsibility. At that time, the local government of Belgium signed an agreement to manage waste in 589 cities and set up about 50 inter city waste management bureaus.

Belgium packaging professional operators pay attention to obtain high-quality materials through continuous communication and cooperation with municipal authorities, and separate plastic, metal, paper, glass and other domestic waste in the recycling system, so as to reduce the pollution in waste transportation and ensure the recycling of high-quality materials. Unlike Germany's investment in new technologies for innovative plastics markets, Belgium is more inclined to collect plastics that can capture market value.

Canada has also made some attempts in regional waste management. In recent years, Canada has developed some form of EPR framework legislation for products and packaging in most regions. In 2014, four out of 10 Canadian provinces have implemented packaging programs - Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and British Columbia.

Take Ontario. The construction of roadside recycling blue bucket system is proposed by the beverage industry, which is used to collect plastic products, garbage made of resin, milk boxes, beverage bottles, cans, etc. Initially, the government required soft drink companies to use a certain quota of refillable bottles. But refillable bottles weaken consumers' purchase intention to some extent. As a result, after local enterprises communicated with the government, the government agreed to reduce the current quota proportion of refillable bottles, but the soft drink industry should provide financial support to help improve Ontario's roadside recycling system. Therefore, Canada has gradually promoted the recycling blue bucket system, which is jointly funded by relevant industries and municipal funds. It not only ensures the safety of drinking, but also brings great convenience for people to deal with domestic waste such as beverage bottles.

At present, about 50 products in Canada are adopting this product management mode at provincial level. All provinces have deposit systems for beer containers, and eight provinces have soft drink container recycling programs. This is also a two-way roadside packaging recycling system and deposit system.

Japan: focus on the formulation of a series of laws and regulations, clear responsibilities, from the basic law, promote recycling, special laws and regulations

Japan used to be the second largest producer of plastics in the world. Recycling of waste plastics has always been a serious social problem in Japan, so Japan has always maintained a positive attitude towards the recycling of waste plastics.

In the 1990s, in order to realize the ideal of zero emission recycling society, Japan put forward the slogan of "building a country by environment", and formulated a series of laws and regulations. This is the most important guarantee for the high recycling rate of resources in Japan. These laws can be divided into three levels. The first level is the basic law. In 2001, the basic law on the establishment of a recycling society was fully implemented. In terms of standardized waste disposal, the waste disposal law was revised in 2010. The second level is to promote recycling. In 2001, the law on the promotion of effective utilization of resources was comprehensively revised. The third level is the special laws and regulations formulated according to the nature of various products, such as the law on the recycling of container packaging, the law on the recycling of household appliances, the law on the recycling of food, the law on the recycling of construction and materials, and the law on the recycling of vehicles. These laws cover a wide range, strong operability and clear responsibilities, and make specific provisions on waste treatment and resource recycling in different industries.

After the comprehensive implementation of the law on recycling of container packaging and its revision in 2006, the per capita emission of garbage in Japan decreased rapidly, and the per capita emission in 2016 decreased by 21.6% compared with that in 2000. In 2016, Japan produced 10.75 million tons of resin and consumed 9.8 million tons, including 2.06 million tons (23%) collected by physical recovery method, 360000 tons (4%) collected by chemical recovery method, 5.16 million tons (57%) collected by energy recovery method, 800000 tons (9%) treated by incineration method and 600000 tons (7%) treated by landfill method. As a result, with the increasing amount of waste, the amount of landfill is decreasing.

In a word, most of the current international extended producer responsibility systems are based on relevant laws, such as ppwd (European Union revised Packaging Waste Directive in 2018) and Japan's container packaging recycling law. Plastic packaging is used as a resource to establish a separate recycling system or to recycle together with other resource wastes. These are closely related to urban waste system, municipal system, recycling cost and recycling industry. However, each country chooses different recycling methods, which need to be combined with urban positioning and planning, and linked with different financial charging systems. Therefore, in the process of continuously improving the waste recycling system, including plastics, we should not blindly "copy operation", but need to hand in a satisfactory answer to consumers according to local conditions.

Source: China Environment