Development and Utilization of Circular Economy and Urban Mining Chengdu City based Renewable Resource Industry Survey. Xuelian Zhou 1, a *

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1 Applied Mechanics and Materials Submitted: ISSN: , Vol. 768, pp Accepted: doi: / Online: Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland Development and Utilization of Circular Economy and Urban Mining Chengdu City based Renewable Resource Industry Survey Xuelian Zhou 1, a * 1 School of Business, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu ,Sichuan Province, China a zhouxuelian2012@163.com Keywords: Circular economy; Urban mining; Renewable resources. Abstract. Along with the process of economic growth and urbanization, China has entered a peak period of electronic appliances and automotive industry products obsolescence. On one hand, municipal waste disposal is increasing and causing environmental pollution and damage; on the other hand, native mineral resources exhaustion has increased year by year along with exploitation difficulty and mineral resources import growth. Meanwhile, urban industrial scrap, aka "urban mines", does contain abundant of renewable resources, such as copper, iron, and aluminum. Therefore, based on the theory of circular economy, the exploitation of these "urban mines" is the key strategic industry of China s "12th five-year plan". This paper is based on the survey of Chengdu city regeneration resources industry situation. We analyzed the current status of regeneration resources recycling industry in Chengdu city, finding problems such as the number of existing garbage collection stations inadequate for renewable resources, and processing technology out of date. Generally speaking, the renewable resources industry in Chengdu is under developed. Introduction Mineral resources are important material base of national economy and social development. In China, 95% of energy, more than 85% of industrial raw material and more than 70% of the agricultural means of production are dependent on the development and supply of mineral resources [1]. However, with the growing extent of primary mineral development, the amount of mineral resources in China is gradually decreasing. According to estimates that in the following few years, China's copper, lead-zinc, and gold mine production capacity will reduce by 26%, 46% and 70% [2]. It is expected that in 2020, most of the Major mineral in China will lack sufficient reserve, with the exception of coal, tungsten, aluminum, rare earth and some nonmetallic minerals [3]. At the same time, the cities we are living in are like mines which never exhaust. After the predatory industrialized exploitation, a lot of mineral resources have been transferred to the ground from the underground, and accumulated in our cities in a form of "junk", and the total amount is as many as several thousand of billion tons, with the annual increment tens of billions tons [4]. Recycling the waste industrial products such as city garage, "development of city mineral" can change waste into treasure, and recycling use of resources will produce a lot of renewable resources. Overview The overview of City Mining."Urban mine (s)" or "Urban Mining", in 1960s, American city sociologist Jane Jacobs suggested to take the cities as future mines, and thought that many needed raw materials could be mined from the city garbage[5]. In 1971 Spender Love from America proposed the slogan of "mining in city". In 1985 Yang Xianwan first used the term "city mine", but only in terms of recycling nonferrous, rare and precious metal, without further definition of "city mine" concept [6]. In 1988, Nanjo Michio from Japan started from metal resource recycling, and likened cities to mines ready for a second-time exploit, and for the first time raised the concept of "urban mines" which had All rights reserved. No part of contents of this paper may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of Trans Tech Publications, (ID: , Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA-18/02/16,22:29:30)

2 Applied Mechanics and Materials Vol been widely recognized by Japanese scholars [7]. Chinese scholar Zhang Hanmin also cited this statement, and in 1989 "urban mines" was likened to "vein", and considered as the ideal place for resource recycling [8]. At present, the concept of "city mineral" has no unified understanding. In May 2010, China published the notice on construction of city mineral demonstration base, and for the first officially used the term "city mineral", which was defined as the recyclable steel, nonferrous metal, rare and precious metal, plastic and rubber, contained in waste electrical equipment, wire and cable, communication tools, automobile, home appliances, electronic products, metal and plastic packaging materials and scrap during the process of industrialization and urbanization, with the amount equivalent to the primary mineral resources. The development model of city mining in the context of circular economy.traditional economics is one-way system which goes from production to consumption, with the main line of "resources - products - waste", having the characteristic of "high investment, low use, high pollution", and results in destruction of environment and gradual depletion of resources, which is a non-sustainable economic model. The circular economy requires the "3R" principle, namely the reduction principle (Reduce), reuse principle (Reuse) and recycle principle (Recycle) as the guideline of economic activities. Circular economy is a economic model with harmonious development of man and nature, based on resource conservation and reuses, having the characteristic of "reduction, reuse and resource", and adopting the closed feedback cycle process of "resources - products - renewable resources - recycled products" (Figure 1), which is a sustainable development model with resource of "low investment, high utilization, low emission and low pollution". Fig.1 Flow chart of circular economy Circular economy is essentially a kind of ecological economy, and compared with the traditional economy, it advocates a kind of economic development model which holds harmony with the nature. Circular economy, during economic development, endeavors to follow the law of ecology, realize the harmonious circulation between economic system and natural ecosystems, and maintain the ecological balance. The Development of Renewable Resources Industry in the City of Chengdu Brief of Chengdu.Chengdu City is located in Chengdu Plain in central Sichuan Province in southwest China, with superior geographical environment, and is the largest plain in southwest China. Chengdu City, is surrounded by mountains, west to Longquan mountains, east to Qionglai mountain,

3 646 Selected Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Waste Management and Technology at the altitude of meters, and Minjiang River is running through them and the most famous Dujiangyan Irrigation System is here. Superior water irrigation provides the basis and guarantee for the economic and social development. Chengdu has a subtropical monsoon climate, mild and rainy all the year, and cloudy weather is more frequent, and sunshine time is short and the air humidity is high. With pleasant climate, Chengdu is well known as "the land of abundance" and "homeland of giant panda". By the end of Year 2012, the total area of Chengdu City is about square kilometers, and the city's total population is million, with the natural population growth rate of 4.5. In 2013 the city's GDP is RMB billion Yuan, and the proportions of three industry sectors are 3.9%, 45.9% and 50.2% respectively [9]. As a city of 4000 years of civilization history, Chengdu is also one of the most important central city of the economic development in southwest China, and the hub of trade, finance, science and technology, transportation and communication, and the urbanization rate has reached 65.51%[10]. Fig. 2 Administrative regions of Chengdu The administrative regions of Chengdu is divided into three circles (see Figure 2): the first (core) circle is composed of the most developed Districts of Jinjiang, Qingyang, Jinniu, Wuhou and Chenghua; and the second circle is composed of Districts of Xindu, Wenjiang, Longquanyi, Qingbaijiang and the Counties of Shuangliu and Pixian; and the third circle is composed of Pengzhou, Qionglai, Dayi and other counties which are relatively less developed in terms of local economic and urbanization rate. The renewable resources industry in Chengdu.The so-called "renewable resources" generally refers to waste which no longer holds the original value of use during the process of production and life, which can be turned into raw materials of production after recovery, pre-processing and resourceprocessing, with feasible and economic technology. According to the source, renewable resources can be divided into 2 categories, production renewable resources and domestic renewable resources, and sometimes also referred to as "the second-time resources". The recyclable resources of renewable resources include: scrap metal, waste plastics, waste paper, waste glass etc. The development overview of renewable resources industry in Chengdu.According to statistics data, in 2013, thousand tons of renewable resources were recycled within the Chengdu City

4 Applied Mechanics and Materials Vol recycling system(meanwhile the total amount of recycled renewable resources is thousand tons, see Table 1), with total value of 3.76 billion Yuan, accounting for the Chengdu City renewable resources recycling industry s total recovery of 31.49% and 31.99%, and compared with 2012 the numbers were decreased by thousand tons and million Yuan, a decline of 12.45% and 17.75%. In the decrements, the biggest drop is the waste precious metal and waste plastic, or 18.40% and 30.12% as year-on-year decline. In 2013 the city s sales of renewable resource recycling system reached a total of thousand tons, and total sales value reached billion Yuan, accounting for the Chengdu City renewable resources recycling industry s total sales of 31.83% and 32.33%, and compared with 2012 the numbers were decreased by thousand tons and million Yuan, a decline of 7.31% and 13.25%. In the decrements, the biggest drop is waste precious metals, or 25.73% and 23.92% as year-on-year decline. Table 1 Chengdu, the total amount of all kinds of recycled renewable resources (Ton) Renewable resources category Waste Paper Iron and steel scrap Waste Plastics Waste of precious metal Other Wastes Total Data sources: Chengdu Renewable Resources Association There are over 4000 agencies in the industry of renewable resource recycling in Chengdu, with employees more than 100 thousand, and for each year 6 million tons of renewable resource are recycled, of the value about 18 billion Yuan. In the city annually there are about 700 thousand tons of waste plastic produced, in which 380 thousand tons are recycled, at the ratio of 65%, and there are 10 billion drink bottles are discarded, or 100 thousand tons, in which about 60 thousand tons are recycled, at the ratio of 60%, and there are about 2.2 million tons of waste metal and nonferrous metal are produced, in which 1.8 million tons are recycled, at the ratio of 80%, and there are about 1.9 million tons of waste paper, in which 1.6 million tons are recycled, at the ratio of 85%. The proportion of different kinds of recycled resource is summarized in below chart. Generally speaking, the renewable resources recycling industry in Chengdu is still developing at a slow speed and there are many problems. Fig.3 The proportion of recycled renewable Waste of precious metal 3% Waste Plastics 10% resources, Chengdu, 2013 Other Wastes 12% Iron and steel scrap 41% Waste Paper 34% Fig.3 The proportion of recycled renewable resources, Chengdu, 2013

5 648 Selected Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Waste Management and Technology The structure of renewable resources industry in Chengdu.There are 3 renewable resources markets, 2 sorting centers and 490 community networks in the core area of Chengdu, and in the second circle there are 4 renewable resources markets, 2 sorting centers and 490 community networks, and in the third circle there are 2 big bases, 6 renewable resources markets and 490 community networks. Renewable resource distribution sorting processing sites are mainly concentrated in the suburbs, see the table below. Table 2 The distribution of renewable resources networks in Chengdu, 2013 Districts (County, Town) Area (km 2.) Street (Town) Community Household Population Base Market Sorting Center Community Network Core Area Jinjiang Qingyang Chenghua Wuhou (including High-tech Zone) Jinniu Second Circle Shuangliu Pixian Wenjiang Xindu Qingbaijiang Longquanyi Third Circle Dujiangyan Xinjin Jintang Pengzhou Chongzhou Dayi Qionglai Pujiang Total Data sources: Chengdu Renewable Resources Association Renewable resource recycling model in Chengdu.According to the statistics data by Chengdu City sanitation department, in the recent 10 years, the amount of domestic garbage annually increases 8%-15%, or about tons of garbage for each day. In 2012, 2.32 million tons of garbage were produced in Chengdu, which were disposed by sanitary landfill and incineration, and the harmless disposal rate is 100%. Among the disposal methods, 1.25 million tons of garbage were disposed by landfill disposal, accounting for about 53.85%, and the rest were disposed by incineration[11], in which, scrapped automobiles and appliances is an important source of renewable resources. As of March 2014, there are more than 2.69 million cars in use in the area of Chengdu, and this number is the second largest in China, only second to Beijing [12]. According to the international practice, about 7% of these cars are scrapped each year, so in Chengdu this number is about 200 thousand, resulting in garbage of 200 thousand tons. After entering the recycling base, the scrapped cars are disassembled, and according to the Regulation of Scrapped Car Recycling Management, the engine, gearbox,

6 Applied Mechanics and Materials Vol steering device, front/rear axle and frame are prohibited for sale and should be turned into recycled raw materials of metal, plastic and glass (see Figure 4). Currently, the annual umber of scrapped appliances is reaching 3 million in Chengdu and is close to the peak. The recycling network of discarded appliances in Chengdu City is divided into five levels, namely the abandoning site, recollecting site, recollecting center, processing center and re-distribution market. The recycling process is similar to the one for scrapped automobiles (see Figure 4), but Chinese residents are used to selling the scrapped appliances to the re-collectors near their home, or to the dealers/producers at the trade-in price, and these appliances are traded in the second-hand market, sold to the low-end consumers. Fig.4 Renewable resource recycling process in Chengdu Improvement Opportunities More sites for resource recycling are needed.based on the existing literature, to establish a system which is able to take the full responsibility of renewable resource recycling, there needs to be sufficient recycling sites and bases. Generally speaking, by average there should be 1 re-collecting site for every 1-3 communities, and 1 re-collecting site for every 15~20 villages, and n the densely populated areas every households need a re-collecting site in the community. The residents can deliver scrapped things to the nearby sites only when the sites have 100% coverage based on above standards. Therefore, according to table 2 there are 3369 communities in Chengdu, or households, the number of re-collecting sites should be between , and the average number is 2051, so at present, the 1530 existing community recycling sites are not enough. Garbage sorting level and management should be improved.since 2011, garbage sorting pilot has been started in Chengdu, and according to "the mid/long term planning on Chengdu city domestic garbage sorting", by the end of 2015, 50 thousand garbage-sorting bins will be equipped in Chengdu, and the residential areas in the first and second cycles should have 100% garbage sorted, and sorted domestic garbage transport will be realized as for the first step. Although the reform has been carried out for 3 years, there are still many problems.

7 650 Selected Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Waste Management and Technology The sorting indication is not accurate. The garbage sorting indication on the garbage bins is confusing without unified standard, and indications in different areas and streets are also different. Some indications are "Recyclable" and "Unrecyclable", and some others are "Recyclable", "Hazardous" and "Others". Ordinary people are not proficient in garbage sorting. In 2013, "Chengdu urban residents daily garbage disposal behavior survey", by the National Bureau of Statistics survey team in Chengdu, through a sample survey of Chengdu city nearly 1000 families of ordinary people, showed that most respondents were unable to accurately sort the garbage, in which 11.4% households were completely "not aware of how to sort garbage", and only less than 16% residents would sort garbage by themselves, and even some binmen did not hold the right concepts and not aware of how to sort garbage. Renewable resources processing technology needs improvement.the renewable resources come from various sources, with complex ingredients, so most of the garbage is re-collected in the traditional way, that is depending on many scavengers, and the transportation, sorting, disassemble and simple processing are also done manually, resulting in a typical labor-intensive industries. In fact, the raw materials of renewable resources industry is the garbage discarded by the traditional economic system, which cannot be efficiently used by the economic system with current technology level, so the recycling industry must have advanced technology to make sure efficient re-collection and re-use of these resources. Additionally, the resource input and re-collecting market are not stable, so the business is at big risk of operation, causing high operating cost and long payback period. As the summary, the technology investment and technology level in Chengdu recycling market can not fully meet the requirements. Summary Through the investigation of Chengdu City of renewable resources industry, we find that, the overall development level of renewable resources industry in Chengdu City is still immature, which stays on the typical Chinese inland city development level. The gap is obvious comparing with Japan and other developed countries, in the areas like urban garbage classification, collection and management, renewable resources processing technology, renewable resource recycling efficiency, final waste harmless treatment, and there is the need of joint effort from the government, enterprises and the public to improve laws and regulations, promote the utilization of city mineral resources and the level of industrialization, so that the constraint of resources and environment for China's economic and social development can be alleviated. References [1] Song huanbinyunnan. sustainable development of mining industry. Science Press, Beijing,2006. [2] Xu zhixun, Chen huachao. Countermeasure Research on Relieving the Bottleneck of Mineral Resources in China. Geology and Exploration 45(2009) [3] Gao zhengwen. Yunnan Mining Industry seeks solution to sustainable development. Environmental Economy 11(2005) [4] Qu yongxiang. Interpretation Urban Mining. China Nonferrous Metals 24 (2010) [5] Jane JacobsThe. Death and Life of Great American Cities.Vintage Books,1961.

8 Applied Mechanics and Materials Vol [6] Yang xianwan, Li xihui. Discussion on the Development of Urban Mining. Yunnan Metallurgy 3 (1985) [7] Nanjo Michio. Recycling system of urban development -- by the view of mine comprehensive resources(urban Mine, New Resources for the Year 2,000 and Beyond). Bulletin of the Institute of Mineral Research 43(1988) [8] Zhang hanming. The Development of Metal Resources Recycling and Urban Mine. Metal Recycling 6(1989) [9] Chengdu Bureau of Statistics Internet. &cx=&id= [10] China Daily Sixth National population census data Gazette. [11] 2012 Chengdu Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Waste Information Gazette. [12] West China City News. The quantity of automobiles in Chengdu breaks through 2.69million after Beijing. [13] West China City News. Chengdu will be built first scrap auto recycling Park completed in February next year.

9 Selected Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Waste Management and Technology / Development and Utilization of Circular Economy and Urban Mining - Chengdu City Based Renewable Resource Industry Survey /