E-waste is growing at a rate of nearly 20% every year, becoming the world’s fastest-growing waste
E-waste: a "gold mine" yet to be mined
China is a distribution center for 70% of the world's electronic waste, and a major producer and consumer of electronic products. With the needs of enterprises' own development and the rapid integration of "Internet +", various innovative recycling models of waste electrical and electronic products have sprung up.
On July 26, in front of a waste collection station in a community on Dapingzheng Street, Chongqing, Ms. Liu, who planned to dispose of old mobile phones, was worried: “The waste collection station does not accept electronic products now, saying that they are not qualified for dismantling. Was punished by the environmental protection department.” In the end, she had no choice but to sell it to a waste collector at a low price that was almost free.
It is understood that due to the rapid development of the electronics industry, e-waste is growing at a rate of nearly 20% per year, becoming the fastest growing garbage in the world. China is a distribution center for 70% of the world's electronic waste, and a major producer and consumer of electronic products. According to statistics from the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the current annual output of electronic waste in my country is about 2 million tons. According to research reports, it is estimated that by 2030, the amount of electronic products discarded in my country will exceed 27 million tons. At the same time, the total value of recyclable metals in the circuit boards of discarded computers and mobile phones will reach 160 billion yuan.
The dismantling industry brings wealth and also pays a high environmental price
A few days ago, the "Global E-waste Monitoring 2020" report issued by the United Nations showed that the total amount of global e-waste reached a record 53.6 million tons last year, an increase of 21% in just five years. And it is expected that this data will reach 74 million tons in 2030. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in recent years, more than 200 million major electrical and electronic products have been scrapped in my country each year. As the world's largest producer and consumer of electronic and electrical products, my country's scrapped televisions, refrigerators, mobile phones and other electronic products have exceeded 11 million tons, ranking first in the world's total electronic waste.
The report shows that only 17.4% of e-waste was collected and recycled in 2019. This means that gold, silver, copper, platinum and other high-value, recyclable materials are mostly dumped or incinerated. According to conservative estimates, the value of these unrecycled e-waste can reach 57 billion U.S. dollars, exceeding the gross domestic product of most countries.
Researcher Mo Yuanming from the Chongqing Upper Yangtze River Economic Research Center said frankly that in the past, due to insufficient attention and lack of relevant laws and policies, the e-waste recycling industry has not yet formed a complete industrial chain, hindering the entry of capital. With the growth of China's waste recycling industry and the country's attention and awakening to electronic product technology companies, many recycling trading platforms for recycled electronic products have been launched and have achieved good results.
The fact that cannot be ignored is that the dismantling industry has brought huge wealth and also paid a high environmental price. Take Guiyu Town, Shantou City, Guangdong Province, the largest dismantling site in China, as an example, each year more than 1 million tons of electronic waste from developed countries such as Japan, the United States, and South Korea are processed. A sample test of the riverbank sediments in Guiyu Town showed that the concentration of barium was 10 times the critical value of soil pollution, while tin was 152 times, chromium was more than 1,300 times, and the amount of lead was more than 200 times the dangerous pollution standard. Times.
E-waste recycling industry chain urgently needs to be established
"These home appliances are in use by every household, and now they are gradually reaching the peak of replacement. After we purchase them from residents' homes, we will send them to designated old home appliance dismantling plants for sorting, dismantling and recycling." An old home appliance recycling company in Chongqing is responsible Zhang Hua said that the circulation of old TVs is relatively fast and can be shipped out soon after the acquisition. However, after recycling, the old mobile phones can only be temporarily stored in the warehouse due to lack of professional dismantling companies. I have received more than 100,000 mobile phones, but they cannot sell them.
Compared with Zhang Hua's old home appliance recycling company, more residents sold their old home appliances to the "mobile army" collecting all kinds of used goods along the street. At present, these self-employed people riding on human tricycles to collect waste products have become the main force in recycling all kinds of electronic waste.
Tang Aijun, secretary general of the Electronics Branch of China Renewable Resources Recycling Association, said that up to now, the number of waste electrical and electronic products processing enterprises in my country has reached more than 200. However, many formal e-waste disposal companies cannot recover the e-waste that can maintain the normal production capacity of the company, and thus fail to achieve sound development.
In this regard, Wang Jianming, general manager of Huaxin Luyuan, told reporters that due to high costs and taxes that regular processing companies charge lower recycling prices, most recycling vendors are more willing to sell waste electrical appliances to smaller workshops with higher prices. In addition, the citizens' awareness of recycling is not high, and many people are not familiar with e-waste recycling and dismantling companies, thinking that the procedures for selling to small vendors are easier.
At present, my country has a number of formal recycling and processing leading enterprises with large-scale operation capabilities, advanced technology and equipment, and standardized management, such as China Recycling, Gree, TCL, etc. It is promoting the formation of an integrated industrial chain of recycling, processing and utilization.
Zhongtian Electronic Waste Treatment Co., Ltd., located in Dazu District, Chongqing, is mainly engaged in the comprehensive treatment and disposal of electronic waste within the main urban area of Chongqing. In 2019, the company's three companies, Zhongtian Electronics, China Canada Environmental Protection, and Shunmao Renewable Resources, collected a total of about 3.5 million waste electrical appliances.
"After the dismantling is completed, it is sorted and stored. Recyclables are sold to related companies for reuse, and hazardous waste is handed over to qualified companies for disposal." Zhongtian company general manager Peng Huigang said that the company controls, The comprehensive application of erp system management and 7S management long-term mechanism has established a fine management and control mode for the whole process.
It is imperative to establish and improve laws, regulations and management mechanisms
With the improvement of the level of dismantling technology, especially the development of technology to recover and extract precious metals and valuable materials from electronic waste. The "money" path of e-waste appears. Some large-scale production enterprises have entered the industry, and the industry has developed rapidly. However, due to the lack of uniform standards, the industry has developed disorderly.
From a legal point of view, there is currently a lack of special legal regulations for the recycling and harmless disposal of electronic waste. It is understood that, drawing on the treatment method of the "Extension of Producer Responsibility" in developed countries, my country has implemented a waste electrical and electronic product fund system, through financial subsidies to encourage production companies to participate in recycling, and self-built processing companies to dispose of electrical waste. However, the current policy mainly subsidizes TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, and computers.
In this regard, Dong Mingzhu, chairman of Gree Electric Co., Ltd., once suggested at the National Two Sessions this year to establish a tracking information system for electronic products and home appliances to prevent them from flowing into the second-hand market. At the same time, it is hoped that government departments will adjust the amount of fund subsidies, expand subsidies and other issues, and give more encouragement and support policies to recycling companies.
With the needs of the enterprise's own development and the rapid integration of "Internet +", various innovative recycling models for waste electrical and electronic products have sprung up. For example, recycling models such as green consumption + green recycling, Internet + classified recycling, two-network integration recycling, and EPR recycling have entered a new stage of development in the recycling industry of waste electrical and electronic products. It is estimated that by 2030, the scale of output value of my country's solid waste classification and resource utilization will reach 7 trillion to 8 trillion yuan, and it will drive 40 to 50 million jobs, which is expected to become an important industry category.
Li Guo