惊讶吗？据息，有关循环经济的大部分运动都发生在欧洲，并且和西方跨国公司和基金会有关。但世界上人口最多的国家已经投入了大量的时间和资源到循环经济模式中。
以下是大家需要知道的五个重要方面。
1. 循环经济二十年来一直是中国政府的重中之重！
1998年以来，中国学术界开始向大家介绍循环经济理念来促进经济发展和减少污染。2002年，中国政府正式接受了循环经济理论。2009年，中国成为世界第三个创立循环经济推动法律的国家（仅次于德国和日本）。重要的是，中国人没有用一个特殊的环境镜头来看待循环经济，而是把它看作长期经济发展的关键。这有助于让循环经济处在所有国家政策的前沿。为了知道政府如何看待循环经济的重要性，发展循环经济和发展中国的五年计划一样重要。
2. 中国正在被一个自上而下的集中在工业园区和城市的方法所驱动。
Circular economy: Lessons from China
鉴于中国政府对循环经济的关注，循环经济原则的推广已由政府授权，而不是被非营利组织或私人商业利益所推动。在政府的支持下，中国重点关注生态工业区和整个循环城市的发展。20世纪80年代以来，这些生态工业区是基于中国的创作，经济特区建立区域制造业和产业集群发展的优惠政策。For a sense of scale, there are currently 1600 of these SEZ's in China and they account for 70% of the country's energy use and 72% of the country's carbon emissions! About 15% of China's current SEZ's are already, or in the pilot stages of becoming Eco-Industrial Zones. This makes perfect sense as the proximity of businesses within each zone helps to facilitate the development of truly closed loop models for materials. And from an economic perspective, this utilization of what was previously "waste" helps to decouple China's reliance on overseas commodities. It's great national policy!
3. NOW is the time to focus on the development of China's domestic Infrastructure
China's waste ban goes into effect — No more 'foreign garbage'
Why? Because as of the start of this year, China has implemented the #NationalSword policy and stopped taking in the majority of foreign trash due to environmental concerns. While this has been terrible news for most of the rest of the world, this means that China can no longer rely on foreign material to feed the needs of its manufacturing industry and has the incentive to spur the development of their own domestic collection industry. Already, there are municipal sorting targets in place for 2020 and Chinese based companies are looking to develop more infrastructure. Because most of China's municipal sorting infrastructure is still informal, China has the ability to leapfrog the many challenges that we face in the West because of the need to adapt old methods of waste and materials management for a more sustainable system. I also think there is a huge opportunity for technology and knowledge transfer cross borders as China develops this infrastructure. (Msg me if interested in learning more!)
How China's foreign waste ban has spurred the recycling industry
4. Private Companies are Getting Involved
Some 7.5 billion plastic bags, 10 billion cardboard boxes and 17 billion metres of wrapping tape were used to ship China’s parcels in 2015. ‘In China, an average of 57 million packages were delivered each day in 2015 - compared to the US average of 35 million,’ reports the Cainiao Network. It estimates this figure will reach 145 million by 2020
While the government has been the leading driver of the Circular Economy, in recent years, Chinese companies have also started taking note. In March of last year, Cainiao, the logistics arm of Alibaba, together with 6 of China's largest logistics companies, announced the formation of the Green Alliance Foundation to focus on how to more sustainably deliver, reuse, and recycle packaging waste.
This January, the Consumer Goods Forum also announced the opening of their first China office with the support of key Chinese corporations including COFCO, China's largest food processor, and national retailers Hualian, BubuGao, and WuMart.
5. So all this is interesting, but why is China so important? Let's look at the numbers.
China has a current population of 1.37 Billion and their GDP per capita went from $5k in 2005 to $10k in 2010, and is forecasted to double again to over $20k in 2022. Compare that to the EU-28 with a population of 500 Million and a GDP per capita of $30k and to the United States with a population of 300 Million and a GDP per capita of $57k.
If you agree with the theory that GDP per capita is a good predictor of the utilization and consumption of resources, as China becomes more affluent, with a population that is already double the EU and the United States combined, what is going to happen with global resource use and environmental degradation? That's right. If the Chinese follow our Western habits of consumption and resource depletion, we really are going to need 4.5 Earths to support everyone!
That is why understanding China's take on the Circular Economy is extremely relevant to all of us working to promote the Circular Economy and sustainable economic development. We need to make sure our dialogue and strategy include what is already the world's largest global economy.
About the Writer
Gina Lee is the Founder of Circular CoLab, an organization focused on empowering the creation of the Circular Economy. She has over 15 years of experience working in Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Impact in the United States, China, and Germany and believes strongly in the power of collaboration and innovation to create change. Want to collaborate? Email her at gina@circularcolab.org.
