Waste plastics get “rebirth” in the Netherlands

【China Packaging News】 Fashionable baby carriages, beautiful socks, beautiful wallets … At the Dutch “Rebirth of Waste Plastics” exhibition held in Shanghai a few days ago, if you do n’t know the name of the exhibition, you can hardly think of these It's actually made of waste plastic.

Nowadays, we can't imagine a world without plastic products, but how to dispose of waste plastics has always puzzled us. According to statistics, only 9% of waste plastics are recycled, and about 12% are incinerated, while up to 79% exist in different forms in landfills or natural environments. Another set of data shows that about 8 million tons of plastic waste enters the ocean every year , threatening the survival of more than 500 species of marine life. A plastic bag was found in the body of the deceased whale, and the turtle died as a result of being entangled in a fishing net ... Such news is not uncommon.

Therefore, how to recycle plastic products and reduce the harm to the environment is an urgent problem that humans need to solve. In this exhibition of "The Rebirth of Waste Plastics" exhibition, seven Dutch companies and organizations brought products made of waste plastics and showed us a commercial solution.

The Netherlands is a coastal country and a major fishing country. Therefore, a large number of fishing nets are intentionally or unintentionally abandoned in the sea every year. In 2013 , a non-governmental organization called "Healthy Ocean" was established to try to solve the problem of abandoned fishing nets in the ocean. Since 2013 , "Healthy Ocean" has cleared over 311 tons of discarded fishing nets from the North Sea, the Adriatic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea . How to deal with these discarded fishing nets? "Healthy Ocean" cooperated with Italian polymer fiber company Effie to make these waste fishing nets into recycled nylon yarn ECONYL that can be used for textiles . Another called star socks Hosiery companies such yarns made by a sock, which component contains 65% organic cotton, 33% and 2% ECONYL elastic fibers. This is the story of "fishing nets become socks" in this exhibition. It is worth mentioning that Eiffel and Star Socks are the founders of the "Healthy Ocean" organization. Nowadays, it is more common in Europe to use recycled nylon yarn to make fabrics and then make them into clothes and sofa fabrics.

Dutch industrial designer Bart Bost showed reporters a Greentom stroller made entirely of recycled plastic . According to reports, the trolley is composed of 28 parts. Except for the metal materials used for bearings and springs, the remaining parts are all made of recycled plastic. For example, the frame of the stroller is made of recycled polypropylene, while the seat cloth is woven from recycled nylon. Bost said that because this baby carriage has only 28 parts and simple ingredients, it is also very convenient to be recycled again. It is not a strange thing to become a chair or a cane in the future. He said that this is his ideal design and production model.

Will baby strollers made of waste plastics contain harmful ingredients? Faced with the reporter's question, Zhang Xiaoyang, marketing manager of Greentom , said that their products and accessories have been approved by EN1888 and EN71-3 European quality inspection standards. The seat cloth and frame are chemically tested to ensure that they are non-toxic and meet the strictest infants and young children. Product safety standards. But she also admitted that Chinese consumers still have some concerns about this, so they do not emphasize that it is made of recycled plastics when they sell in China. I hope that after the future environmental protection concept is more deeply rooted in people's hearts, this product will be recognized by more Chinese consumers.

For the popularization of environmental protection concepts, the studio “Precious Plastics” , which is operating in Shanghai, showed how to make ordinary plastic bottle caps into modern coasters, wallets, trays and other items. In fact, the production process is also very simple, that is, the plastic bottle cap is chopped, then melted, and finally formed in the mold. It is reported that "Precious Plastics" has set up studios in many European countries, mainly to spread the concept of environmental protection and recycling to the public.

The exhibition "The Rebirth of Waste Plastics" exhibition reflects the Dutch government's emphasis on waste recycling and recycling economy. The Netherlands formulated the "Circular Economy 2050 " plan in 2016. By 2030 , the Netherlands plans to achieve 80% recycling in fields such as biodegradation, infrastructure materials, manufacturing, plastics, and consumer products , reaching 100% by 2050 .