PETpla.net Insider 07+08 / 2021

MATERIALS / RECYCLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 07+08/21 www.petpla.net 20 in other Asian and south-east Asian countries, as well as in America and Europe. “The physical recycling of food- grade applications has made great technological advances over the years to a level which, I believe, offers considerable benefits which is why we chose this area. However, stand- ardised regulations would be needed for a breakthrough in China itself”, explains Mr Jiawan. Meanwhile, his company’s techni- cal equipment portfolio includes Tomra systems for bottle and flake storing, namely the Autosort for pre-sorting of bottles and Autosort Flake and Inno- sort Flake, both for flake purification, several three-layer co-extrusion ABA structure rPET sheet production lines, a Buhler SSP line, a PET extrusion and granulation production line, five high-speed thermoforming produc- tion lines, a Kiefel KTR6.1 high-speed cup making machine with the largest output, an HDPE bottle cleaning line and an HDPE granulation production line. “The waste source or condition is obviously critical to our processes and requires a centralised solution. With the introduction of the 2017 Waste Ban, under which solid waste can no longer be imported into the country for recycling, China now has an opportu- nity on a broad scale for us to develop and install a proper recycling system that incorporates many improvements in terms of waste separation and col- lection”, says Mr Jiawan. Coming back to the point on moti- vation and his continuing investment, he explains: “I am very optimistic about the development space and prospects of the waste plastics recycling market” and takes us on a short excursion into the current state of recycling in China. “China is a large consumer of plas- tics and is also an energy-intensive country, and demand for plastics can never be satisfied by imports”, says the Chairman. “China is also in the stage of pollution control, banning the import of waste plastics. After the 18 th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), “Lush moun- tains and lucid waters are as valuable as gold and silver.” has become an important national policy. The Chi- nese government has promulgated a large number of policies to promote the development of circular economy. Apart from that, brand owners for recycled plastics will also promote the growth of the recycled plastics market in China. Apple, Foxconn, Huawei, Unilever, Procter & Gamble and other companies have already been seeking high-quality recycled plastics suppliers in China. Therefore, plastics recycling is a general trend with rosy prospects. He went on: “The recycling of plastics is generally encouraged all over the world. Both market and government measures are being introduced in this regard. Some large international brand owners have increased the proportion of recycled plastics in their products. The demand in the high-end chemical fibre industry for example is pretty high and supply cannot keep up. Also, the demand for food-grade recycled plastics is growing in Europe and America, Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia.” Difficulties also emerged during the pandemic. Although China was able to have Covid-19 under con- trol quite quickly, the company was forced to adjust its original plans due to disrupted supply chains and export business issues. “Recycling channels have been under restrictions after the Spring Festival, crippling our recycling and production efforts for a long time”, says Mr Jiawan. “Our imported equip- ment arrived at the plant in 2019. Because of the pandemic, it was impossible for engineers to come from Europe to install and commis- sion the production line. The equip- ment was only installed in October and then officially put into production in November 2020, which has greatly affected our production plan. How- ever, since production inauguration in November 2020, we have seen orders increasing day by day. Our prod- ucts are very popular in Europe and America. And while forming a closed loop of the whole industrial chain, our company achieves the independent sale of products in each link, improv- ing our competitiveness in the market. Thanks to eight years of investment, 2021 will be the year when Guolong begins to prosper and really enter the fast lane of development. Never- theless, our company has adjusted business objectives and development strategies to cope with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. We hope that the Chinese government will promul- gate policies to vigorously support the development of the plastics recycling industry. For example, China can consider the mandatory requirements of Europe and America for manufac- turers to increase the proportion of recycled plastics in their products, and formulate container packaging stand- ards, thus encouraging the recycling of waste plastics.” Plastics have attracted an unwar- ranted negative image globally in recent years, mainly as a result of misinformation and conflicting opin- ions regarding responsibility for waste Recycling plant infeed