PETpla.net Insider 11 / 2019

TRADE SHOW REVIEW PET planet Insider Vol. 20 No. 11/19 www.petpla.net 50 Summary of the 15 th China International Recycled Polyester and PET Packaging Conference & Exhibition Facing external and internal challenges by Dr Ulrich Thiele, Co-Organiser The 15 th China International Recycled Polyester and PET Packaging Conference & Exhi- bition was held on September 18-20, 2019 in Shanghai, China. During the conference it was interesting to see how the Chinese recycling industry in general and the Chinese poly- ester recycling industry in particular is on its way to digesting the drastic measures of the Chinese government to ban the import of any plastic waste from January 2018 on. While Europe is struggling with individual measures such as the ban on drinking straws, plastic bags or disposable tableware, the Chinese leadership has created eight ministerial admin- istrative units covering the entire complex of environmental protection, renewable energies, circular economy including recycling and climate protection. There is still a substantial gap compared to European environmental standards but Chinese speed of progress in this area is impressive. More than 360 delegates from China and overseas heard about the latest results in polyester recycling technology, production and market and exchanged their recent experiences. Two contributions from governmental organisations and three from industry associations underlined the high admin- istrative awareness of the recycling issue and loop economy in general. Zhang Deyuan , Dept. Direc- tor General of Institute of Economic System and Management NDRC outlined the basics regarding “China’s Policies for the Recycling Economy over the 13 th Five-Year Plan-Recycled Plastics”. The pressures behind the environmental and recycling com- plex are China’s substantial fears that there is only a short time left to develop and introduce loop technol- ogy and economy. This new perspec- tive is reflected in the establishment of eight different state councils, which cover the entire complex of environ- mental and recycling management. Most important among them are the NDRC, MIIT, Ministry of Environmen- tal Protection, MOST and MOHURD. Li Deli , Secretary General of China Chemical Fibres Association Recycled Fibre Commission talked about “Green Fibre Certificate and Fibre Recycling”. The approved prod- ucts and companies are of high prod- uct quality and production standards. The target is to substantially increase the number of approved companies to increase the acceptance of recycled products in the market. Wang Huansong , Senior Engi- neer Environmental Protection Research Institute of Light Industry explained the “Reformation of China’s Emission Permit System” which is similar to the European “Industrial Emissions Directive” or the BimSchG regulation in Germany. This new regu- lation has in particular the objective of reducing the ubiquitous air pollution in China’s major cities. Zhang Zhongjuan , Person in Charge of Energy Saving and Green Standard of Industry Dept., China National Textile and Apparel Council discussed “Green Factory Criteria for the Textile Industry”. This initiative introduced and promoted by MIIT is targeted to assess step by step the whole of Chinese Industry to improve