China'S Waste Textile Recycling Has Not Formed An Industrial Chain

"Abandonment spin Product is another resource misplaced. " Beijing clothing Qian Wei, Deputy Secretary of the College Party Committee, said so. At present, 30% of cotton and 70% of wool in China's textile raw materials need to be imported, and there is a big gap in fiber supply. It is understood that China's annual fiber consumption has reached 45 million tons, and that waste textiles will become a huge breakthrough in raw material resources. In this regard, Sun Huaibin, Deputy Secretary General of the China Textile Industry Federation and Executive Deputy Director of the Committee for Environmental Protection and Resource Conservation, called on the government to introduce guiding policies and financial support to enable waste textiles to form another new industry.

The annual fiber consumption of 45 million tons is urgent to reuse

At present, 45 million tons of annual fiber consumption is a very large number, and waste recycling and resource reuse become urgent. According to Sun Huaibin, the executive deputy director, the recycling system in China is fragmented at present, and only some communities, recycling companies and other places are recycling, with limited coverage; In the face of safety, health, environment and other issues, the threshold access mechanism for recycling is not perfect; The strength and tenacity of regenerated fibers and the separation of blended fibers are problems that need to be solved.

It is understood that in 2012, China's consumption of textile raw materials accounted for 52% of the world's total, while the import of textile raw materials reached more than 65%. With the reduction of oil and the expansion of population, the conflict between cotton and grain for land has become increasingly prominent, and the shortage of raw materials is imminent. In this regard, Tang Shijun, Deputy Secretary General of the Strategic Alliance for Technological Innovation in the Comprehensive Utilization of Waste Textiles, proposed that natural fiber crops such as hillside fields and saline alkali fields could be used to grow hemp, or land and marine biological resources could be used, as well as the comprehensive utilization of waste textiles. The comprehensive utilization of waste textiles is the best choice from the perspective of technology maturity and implementation investment.

Tang Shijun introduced that the annual social production of polyester bottles has exceeded 5 million tons, and the annual stock of used textiles has reached 26 million tons. These are all renewable resources that can be comprehensively utilized for waste textiles in China.

Waste textile recycling has not formed an industrial chain

However, in the face of messy "waste", there are many problems to be solved. According to Tang Shijun, Deputy Secretary General of the Strategic Alliance for Technological Innovation in the Comprehensive Utilization of Waste Textiles, waste textiles have not formed an industrial chain or value chain at present; It has the characteristics of low grade, low added value, small scale and decentralized distribution; There are technical bottlenecks such as how to better separate blended fibers and how to quickly disinfect them; Lack of participation of key enterprises; The social environment dominated by the government and accepted by the masses has not yet been formed.

At present, the main recycling methods in China are small traders' recycling or donation, centralized recycling at designated locations in small communities, and then centralized recycling to relatively large sites and then sent to various places for use. However, safety, cost, product performance and other issues cannot be guaranteed. Tang Shijun also called on relevant departments to establish and issue relevant product standards and management measures to improve the waste textile recycling system and carry out more effective implementation.

H&M, Uniqlo and other enterprises have carried out "used clothes recycling" activities in their stores. As of September 25 this year, H&M has recycled 3550kg of used clothes in mainland China. In this regard, a professor from the Business School of Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology said that at present, China lacks listed enterprises with high brand awareness and many stores to participate in the recycling of waste textiles, and their participation will play a very positive role in waste recycling.

A few cities have initially established recycling systems

It is understood that since 2010, the Shanghai Municipal Greening and City Appearance Administration has started to pilot the recycling of used clothes in the city. At present, "waste clothing recycling bins" have entered 500 communities in Shanghai. In 2012, the recycling volume of 996 recycling bins was 305 tons, accounting for the waste in Shanghai clothes 3% of the production. Since April 2012, the Hangzhou Municipal Government has launched the donation and reception of used clothes, setting up used clothes donation points in 50 street communities in the city, breaking the previous "once a year" reception frequency, and recycling old clothes by "once a month". Since December 2012, Bao'an District of Shenzhen has set up 100 clothes recycling bins in more than 50 communities, recycling 2143kg of old clothes, and donating 335kg of clothes through public welfare organizations.

However, at present, only a few cities in China have set up recycling bins for waste clothes in some communities. From the perspective of cities that have set up recycling bins for used clothes, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Shenzhen Bao'an District have achieved remarkable results, with a large amount of recycling. After recycling residents' unused clothes, they donate them to public welfare organizations to achieve secondary utilization.

At present, there are also a few enterprises in China recycling waste textiles, there are still many obstacles. In addition to the restrictions of the government departments and the geographical environment, and the licensing problems in terms of qualifications, there is also a big tax burden problem. Yang Yinghong, chairman of Shanghai Yuanyuan Industrial Co., Ltd., said frankly: "We can't have invoices for the waste clothes we recycle from individuals, but we have to issue invoices for resale, which has a certain tax burden."

In this regard, according to Wang Shuwen, deputy secretary-general of the China Association for Comprehensive Utilization of Resources and deputy secretary-general of the Technology Innovation Strategic Alliance for the Comprehensive Utilization of Waste Textiles, the construction of the standard system and preferential policies, such as the exemption of value-added tax and income tax, are also their next priorities.