Current situation and treatment technology of the

The current situation of white pollution and its treatment technology

I. The current situation of "white pollution"

1. What is "white pollution"

the word "white pollution" first came from the metaphor of the impact of plastic film remaining in farmland soil on farmland and ecological environment. We all know that China is the country with the largest yield and coverage of plastic film in the world, and the wide application of plastic film has become an important agricultural material for agricultural production increase, Once known as the "white revolution", plastic mulch is not easy to recycle and degrade after use, and its residues accumulate in farmland soil for a long time to form soil hardening, affecting crops to take root, ventilate and water, and even reduce production. It is also known as "white disaster" or "white pollution". In recent years, with the economic development, scientific and technological progress and the continuous improvement of people's living standards, the application of disposable plastic packaging film bags and fast-food tableware has increased rapidly. Some of its waste has been discarded and scattered in the natural environment at will, and some of it has followed domestic waste into the urban solid waste treatment system. Because most of China's urban waste treatment is not sanitary landfill or incineration to recover heat energy, but waste relocation, Transported from the city to the suburbs for open stacking or shallow burial, in case of strong winds, light and bulky plastic waste, especially ultra-thin plastic bags, will be scattered everywhere with the wind, flying all over the sky (jokingly called "film fluttering") or hanging on tree branches or telegraph poles (jokingly called "ten thousand national flags"), plus polystyrene foam tableware (jokingly called "white corridors") that are randomly discarded on both sides of the railway, as well as scattered in rivers and lakes Plastic residue films and films in drainage and irrigation ditches are vividly compared to "white pollution" and are criticized by the society

in recent years, people's lifestyle has changed from "frugality" to "consumption", and the use of disposable goods has increased significantly, but citizens' enthusiasm for recycling waste is far less than that in the 1950s and 1960s. At the same time, due to people's lack of understanding of the environmental problems caused by plastic waste, disposable plastic samples with high experimental force generally adopt inclined clamping structure, and with the increase of experimental force, With the increase of clamping force, the phenomenon that products are discarded at random and everywhere after use is relatively serious, which leads to new environmental problems

the main reason for white pollution is that plastic waste has not been properly managed and treated, such as: ⑴ urban sanitation infrastructure is in arrears, and garbage collection containers and disposal facilities are seriously insufficient; Garbage is not collected by classification, and recyclable garbage is not recycled; The final disposal method of garbage basically stays at the level of bare stacking or shallow burial; Some towns use the banks of rivers, rivers and lakes as natural garbage dumps. (2) in the window industries such as transportation and tourism, except for the railway system, the garbage collection system matching the production and operation has not been established, and the garbage generated in the process of operation is allowed to flow freely. (3) weak management. The lack of relevant laws and regulations on plastic packaging waste and people's weak environmental awareness lead to widespread abuse and random dumping, which is not caused by plastic materials themselves

"white pollution" mainly refers to the two negative effects of "visual pollution" and "potential harm" to the environment

visual pollution refers to the damage of plastic waste scattered in the environment to the city appearance and landscape, such as polystyrene foamed plastic tableware scattered in the natural environment, on both sides of the railway, rivers and lakes, or ultra-thin plastic bags flying all over the sky or hanging branches. These bring bad stimulation to people's vision, which is called "visual pollution". The people reacted strongly to this

potential hazards refer to the long-term deep-seated environmental problems caused by the difficulty of degradation of plastic waste after entering the natural environment. Its harm includes the following aspects

⑴ plastic film waste accumulates in a large area of soil for a long time, causing soil hardening, affecting the absorption of nutrients and water by crops, resulting in crop yield reduction

⑵ plastic waste discarded on land or in water is swallowed by animals as food, resulting in death

⑶ plastic waste entering domestic waste is light in weight and large in volume, which is difficult to deal with. If it is landfilled, it will occupy a lot of land, and it is not easy to degrade for a long time. Domestic waste mixed with plastics is not suitable for composting. At present, the strongest reflection in society is "visual pollution", and most people still lack sufficient understanding of the "potential harm" of plastic waste to the environment

"white pollution" is not scientific and rigorous in terms of formulation, but as a description of a phenomenon, it is understandable to reflect the concerns of the masses about the rotation of the hydraulic universal experimental machine for environmental pollution control and moving back and forth along the radius of the turntable. However, it is not comprehensive to refer to the term "white pollution" only to disposable plastic waste at present. In recent years, many substitutes have been developed, such as paper, pulp molding, plant fiber, whole starch and other tableware. Although they use natural materials as raw materials, they are relatively perishable and degradable, but due to the addition of waterproof and oil proof agents, it also increases the difficulty of decay degradation and recycling. Practice has proved that it still needs a certain period for them to return to nature after use, and their degradation speed depends on environmental conditions to a large extent. Therefore, the collection and treatment of any kind of degradable disposable tableware and disposable plastic product waste should be strengthened, and it should not be thrown around, so as to avoid the recurrence of the new "white pollution". Polystyrene foam as a warning should be taken as a warning. Therefore, the exact definition of "white pollution" should be: the pollution and harm to the urban landscape and ecological environment caused by the waste of disposable consumer goods of any kind of material, if it is not properly recycled and disposed of and left to be discarded everywhere

on the other hand, we must also have a correct understanding of plastics. We cannot equate "white pollution" with plastic materials. As we all know, plastic is a new material with excellent comprehensive properties. It is not only a kind of material, but also a kind of consumer goods. In general, it is also a kind of material. Any substance has its life cycle. The whole process of reaching the end of its life cycle is the degradation process. Plastic itself is also degradable, but its degradation process can be delayed, inhibited, strengthened and promoted by taking certain technical measures according to the requirements of product application. The plastic aging (embrittlement and hardening) we usually see is a characterization of degradation, but it has a long cycle to reach the end point of degradation. Moreover, the plastic products commonly used in daily life have been stabilized by adding light, heat stabilizers, antioxidants, etc. to delay or inhibit their inherent degradability, and most of the plastics are thermoplastics, which can be recycled and used as clamps of tensile machines. Therefore, plastic products are solid, durable and widely used. They have penetrated into all sectors of the national economy and all areas of people's lives, and have played a positive role in promoting the technological progress of all sectors and enriching and facilitating people's lives. Today, it has been listed as four pillar materials together with steel, wood and cement, which is the main reason for the rapid growth of plastics. On the other hand, in order to meet the requirements of environmental protection, degradation promoters can be added to disposable plastics. Plastic products can accelerate degradation under certain environmental conditions after completing its use function. Therefore, it has become a new member of the plastic family with environmental protection functions

2. Current situation of "white pollution"

plastic products, as a new type of material, have the advantages of light weight, solid and durable, and low price. They are widely used all over the world and show a growing trend. According to relevant materials, the world's plastic production reached 150 million tons in 1998, an increase of 51% over 1990. In 1998, the output of plastic raw materials in China was about 6.76 million tons, the import volume was more than 8 million tons, and the output of plastic products was nearly 16 million tons, more than three times the output in 1990, becoming the second largest country in the world

according to the statistics of relevant departments, in 1998, the domestic packaging plastics were nearly 4million tons (including self-supporting ones), of which 30% of the disposable packaging materials that are difficult to be recycled would generate about 1.2 million tons of plastic packaging waste every year; The output of plastic mulching film is more than 400000 tons, and its waste is difficult to recycle because it is mixed with a large amount of sand and soil. Usually, farmers fish them to the ground and burn them, and the amount of recycling is very small; Disposable plastic daily necessities and medical and health supplies are about 400000 tons. Combined with the above items, the annual output of plastic waste reaches more than 2 million tons

in recent decades, with the rapid development of commodity economy, transportation and tourism, the number and scale of cities have increased, and the amount of urban domestic waste produced has increased significantly. Plastic waste in the composition of municipal solid waste has also increased rapidly. It accounts for% by weight and% by volume

according to the investigation of relevant departments, the daily output of domestic waste in Beijing is 12000 tons, of which the content of plastic waste is about 3%, and the annual total is about 140000 tons; The daily output of domestic waste in Shanghai is 11000 tons, of which the content of plastic waste is about 7%, and the annual total is about 290000 tons. The daily output of domestic waste in Tianjin is 5800 tons, of which the plastic content is about 5%, and the annual total is about 106000 tons

in recent years, "white pollution" has become increasingly serious, which has aroused widespread concern and strong repercussions in the society. White pollution in areas along the railway, tourist attractions, the Yangtze River, urban and rural areas of large and medium-sized cities and other areas has been particularly valued by environmental protection departments at all levels and the people. At the same time, it has also attracted great attention from the leaders of the Central Committee and the State Council, requiring that it be treated as soon as possible

3. Problems existing in the process of "white pollution" treatment

the treatment of "white pollution" is a systematic project, which requires the cooperation of all departments and the active cooperation of the masses. The management department should use the three means of administration, economy and technology at the same time. In reality, the following problems still exist

⑴ there is no national special regulations

the treatment of "white pollution" cannot rely solely on the consciousness of enterprises or individuals. In some aspects, compulsory measures should be taken to bind the behavior of citizens and staff in catering and transportation industries. For example, enterprises or individuals are required to recycle plastic waste generated in their own production and business activities, and individuals or units that discard or stack plastic waste at will should be punished

⑵ lack of relevant economic policies

mobilize the recycling and reuse of plastic waste and give full play to the enthusiasm of enterprises for recycling, and these enterprises need to be given preferential policies. The existing preferential policies for comprehensive utilization are not enough to form a benign market mechanism for the plastic waste recycling industry. In order not to increase the burden of the government, and to reflect the principle of "polluter pays", waste producers should be required to recycle by themselves. Enterprises or individuals who cannot recycle by themselves should pay recycling fees as compensation for recyclers. This practice has been more common in foreign countries, and such economic policies in China are still lacking or not perfect

⑶ management cannot keep up with

the "white pollution" of cities, scenic spots, traffic arteries, water areas, etc. is mainly caused by poor management. The catering industry, commerce, railway and water transportation departments did not take strict management measures for the waste generated in business activities, and allowed customers to throw it directly on the ground or in the water, and even some staff threw the collected waste out of the window or