Recently, the "New Path of Circular Economy - Practical Seminar on Recycling, Recycling and Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction of Water-based Coated Paper Cups" jointly organized by the Shanghai Association of Foreign Investment, Sinarguang Paper (China) Investment Co., Ltd., BASF (China) Co., Ltd., DBC Group Co., Ltd., and Lile Technology was successfully held at the Shanghai Association of Foreign Investment. The new path of circular economy - a big future for small paper cups has also brought market innovation vitality to the innovative development of waste-free construction in Shanghai.
The forum was supported by a number of professional institutions such as Tongji University's Institute of Circular Economy, Shanghai Energy Saving and Emission Reduction Center, Shanghai Urban Investment Environmental Resources Utilization Co., Ltd., Shanghai Quality Inspection Institute, Shanghai Construction Technology, and TUV Rheinland, and attracted the participation of well-known domestic and foreign companies such as Starbucks, McDonald's, KFC, Luckin Coffee, and FamilyMart. Many industry leaders discussed the future development of cross-industry collaborative carbon reduction and looked forward to the vision of building a green and low-carbon supply chain.
Introduction to the Preparatory Planning of the Green and Low-Carbon Pioneer Alliance
Disposable paper cups are a dining tool that almost everyone uses. The coffee and tea we usually drink are also inseparable from disposable paper cups. According to statistics, hundreds of billions of disposable paper cups are used every year, representing millions of tons of paper resources. The key problem is that these used paper cups can hardly be reused. Because the inner wall of the paper cup is coated with a layer of PE coating to prevent leakage and other functional problems, the recycling of the entire paper cup is greatly reduced. Paper cups coated with PE coating cannot be degraded. Most paper cups can only be incinerated after being discarded. This has a clear impact on the environment and waste of resources! Disposable paper cups have the highest quality fiber and can be recycled and reused up to 6 times. Jinguang Paper APP China has joined forces with BASF, DBC, and Lile Technology supply chain partners to use a series of cross-industry collaborative innovation and joint carbon reduction innovative measures to put water-based coatings into practice instead of PE coatings. This small paper cup brings new trends and hopes to the green and low-carbon upgrading and transformation development of the circular economy, and brings new impetus to the development of waste-free urban construction.
Can paper cups be recycled and reused?
Did you know? The small paper cups around us are not recyclable waste. The reason is that the inner wall of the disposable paper cup is coated with a layer of plastic PE coating. This coating can prevent scalding and leakage during the use stage of the paper cup. However, during the recycling stage, due to the difficulty of separating the coating material and paper fiber with existing technology and equipment, the disposable paper cup ultimately needs to be disposed of by incineration or landfill, and the resulting carbon dioxide emissions can reach millions of tons. It can be said that building a disposable paper cup recycling development system can improve the reuse rate of high-quality paper-based packaging materials and promote the green and low-carbon development of the entire industry chain.
Focusing on topics such as further improving the environmental protection technology of disposable paper cups and paper-based packaging recycling, this seminar aims to promote the development of Shanghai's circular economy and greenhouse gas emission reduction into a new stage.
This seminar calls on more catering companies, paper recycling companies and even consumers to actively participate in forming a circular economy green and low-carbon pioneer alliance to continuously provide suggestions for building a full-link closed-loop system from production and use to recycling and reuse of acrylic-coated paper cups, and at the same time evaluate the resulting carbon dioxide emission reduction and waste recycling effects.
Empower each other and create sustainable development value
Dr. Lou Jianfeng
Chairman and President, BASF Greater China
"Acrylic polymers have excellent safety and effectiveness and are widely used in different industries. As an important global manufacturer of acrylic products, BASF is always committed to providing customers with relevant comprehensive solutions and creating sustainable economic value for the industry chain in the long term. BASF is very pleased to collaborate with upstream and downstream partners to form a synergy and contribute to global climate protection."
Mr. Wang Lexiang
CEO of the Large Paper Division of Jinguang Paper (China) Investment Co., Ltd.
"Paper may be one of the most effective materials for human recycling at present, and the food-contact grade paper used in paper cups and bowls is the resource with the best specifications and quality. It is a pity that it cannot be recycled because of plastic coating. As an important company in the paper industry, we have the responsibility to work with BASF and other partners to use our technology to change this status quo and make small paper cups a pioneer in reducing emissions and carbon emissions."
Mr. Huang Feng
President of Shanghai Foreign Investment Association
"The association attaches great importance to green, low-carbon and sustainable development work and has identified promoting green and low-carbon development of foreign-invested enterprises as one of the association's three key tasks. In the future, the green and low-carbon development branch will regularly carry out policy interpretation, business visits, professional ability training, publicity and other activities to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation among branch member units and promote the green and low-carbon development of foreign-invested enterprises."
Mr. Lin Fanqiu
Chairman of DBC Group Co., Ltd.
"Green and low-carbon products are the key elements for the sustainable development of enterprises to improve their international competitiveness in the next ten years. However, most enterprises now have relatively weak awareness and participation in green technology. How to break through technology applications and lead the industry's global technological revolution has become DBC's mission to integrate corporate sustainable development and value creation. In the future, green low-carbon, zero-carbon, and negative-carbon products will be the inevitable direction for the development of all enterprises. DBC Company has continued to focus on this for ten years. Focusing on the innovation of environmentally friendly applications of high-performance recycling materials, our 2025 vision is to promote the global technological revolution in two to three sub-sectors. Today, we work with supply chain partners to innovate across enterprises and quickly lead the global innovation of green technology in a sub-sector. The comprehensive application of innovative water-based coating technology for disposable paper cups will reduce the carbon footprint of the earth by more than one million tons, and also bring new momentum to the sustainable development of circular economy enterprises. "
The seminar was supported by Tongji University’s Institute of Circular Economy, Shanghai Energy Saving and Emission Reduction Center, Shanghai Urban Investment Environmental Resources Utilization Co., Ltd., Shanghai Quality Inspection Institute, Shanghai Construction Inspection, TUV Rheinland and many other professional organizations, and attracted the participation of well-known domestic and foreign companies such as Starbucks, McDonald’s, KFC, Luckin Coffee, FamilyMart and other convenience stores. Many industry leaders discussed the future development of cross-industry collaborative carbon reduction and looked forward to the vision of building a green and low-carbon supply chain.
