The connotation and classification of low value recyclable materials

What is a low-value recyclable material

Low-value recyclables refer to all kinds of low-value recyclables that have a certain recycling value in the process of production and life, can be recycled through certain technical and economic means and obtain certain economic benefits, but due to the poor economic benefits of their recycling, it is difficult to achieve a high proportion of recycling by relying solely on the spontaneous behavior of market entities, such as waste glass, waste textiles, beverage paper-based composite packaging and other common wastes in life.

Range of low-value recyclable materials

On the whole, China's low-value recyclables are basically composed of seven categories: waste textiles, low-value plastic packaging, waste glass, beverage paper-based composite packaging, waste agricultural mulch film, waste fertilizer and pesticide bottles, and bulky garbage.

Characteristics of low-value recyclable materials

1. It has a certain recycling value

Low-value recyclables belong to the category of recyclables and have a certain recycling value from an economic point of view. Through the recycling, sorting and processing of low-value recyclables, industrial raw materials such as recycled plastics, recycled glass products, recycled paper, and recycled fibers can be produced, and reused in industrial production, so as to reduce the consumption of primary resources, save resources and reduce carbon dioxide and other pollutant emissions at the same time, and have certain economic value and good resource and environmental value.

2. The economy of recycling is poor

Low-value recyclables are easily mixed with other domestic garbage in the process of front-end sorting and collection, and they need to be collected and treated on a centralized scale before they can be recycled. In the recycling link, it is time-consuming and laborious to classify and recycle all kinds of low-value recyclables, and the cost is high; in the sorting link, the centralized sorting technology is difficult, and at the same time, because the value of its monomer is generally small, the economic added value of the resource product is low, and the profit margin for recycling is very limited.

3. It produces extremely dispersed and is not easy to recycle

Low-value recyclables come in a wide variety of shapes, with complex compositions, and many are composites, such as beverage paper-based composite packaging, which is a product made from a combination of paper, plastic, aluminum, and other materials. Different from industrial waste and bulk solid waste, low-value recyclables are very scattered, such as low-value plastic packaging, waste glass, waste textiles, bulky garbage, etc., which are gradually generated with people's daily life, and are mostly scattered in residential communities and streets and towns;

4. It has temporal and spatial relativity

Low-value recyclables are the products of specific market economic conditions and specific periods, and "low-value" is a relative concept, which is the result of judging the economic value of low-value recyclables recycling. From the perspective of time, with the passage of time, the change of social comprehensive costs, some recyclables with high value may become "unprofitable" and become low-value recyclables due to the rise of comprehensive costs such as labor.