Waste paper recycling in Shanghai falls into a "strange circle"

At present, waste paper recycling in Shanghai is trapped in such a “strange circle”: Every year, 80% of waste paper is sent to foreign countries through unlicensed “paper sellers”. At the same time, Shanghai had to spend a lot of money to import waste paper from overseas. According to statistics, the amount of waste paper imported by the Shanghai papermaking industry has reached 200,000 tons-300,000 tons per year.

The amount of waste paper produced in Shanghai each year is gradually increasing. It is understood that in 1990, the proportion of waste paper accounted for 4.26% of Shanghai's domestic waste. By 1999, waste paper accounted for 9.23% of Shanghai's domestic waste, exceeding 600 tons per day. It is noteworthy that the amount of waste paper that can be recycled in Shanghai each year increases year by year, but there is not much waste paper that is actually recovered by Shanghai recycling outlets and used by the Shanghai paper industry. Most of Shanghai waste paper has not been fully recycled.

Experts analyzed that there are many drawbacks in the recycling of waste paper in Shanghai:

First, there are few waste paper recycling outlets. In 1958, there were 580 waste paper recycling outlets in Shanghai. By 1997, the waste paper recycling sites in Shanghai had shrunk to about 100;

Second, residents directly purchase waste paper. There is no unified management in the whole city, and there is no large professional market.

Third, the waste paper recycling mode is behind. Shanghai waste paper recycling has not entered the market mode of operation.

What is worrying is that foreign “paper vendors” act as the “main force” for waste paper recycling, resulting in both economic and environmental damage. Since unlicensed “paper sellers” often recycle tax paper, there are more than 20 million yuan in tax on paper every year. In recent years, per capita paper consumption in Shanghai has reached 40 kg/year - 50 kg/year, and will double in the future, and the amount of waste paper will increase substantially. Experts have called for realizing the industrialization of recycling of waste paper resources in Shanghai in the form of market economy movements. It is imperative to rebuild the waste paper recycling network.