Tianli Magnet Technology

Garbage is a misplaced resource.

If the garbage is sorted and put at the source, and then treated as resources, the garbage before us will become a "gold mine", turning waste into treasure as a "secondary resource" and entering a new product production cycle. Garbage classification is the only way for recycling development. Only when everyone treats garbage properly can they unearth the resources and wealth.

The huge trouble caused by rubbish

Garbage and human beings go hand in hand. It is impossible for people to fully utilize raw materials in production and life, and a certain amount of waste will inevitably be produced. In the process of exploitation of natural resources and human consumption of products, all kinds of garbage will inevitably be produced. If left unattended, a large amount of domestic waste, industrial waste, electronic waste, and medical waste will invade the environment, pollute the atmosphere, soil, and water sources, and seriously threaten the earth on which humans depend and their own health.

In recent years, with the increasing awareness of environmental protection in various countries, attention has been paid to the energy and resource utilization of waste, and many countries are striving to achieve the goal of harmlessness, reduction and recycling of waste.

Germany is the first country in the world to implement waste sorting and one of the most successful countries. According to statistics, the current recycling rate of domestic waste in Germany is 65.6%, making it the country with the highest level of waste classification in the world.

But more than 100 years ago, rubbish also caused great trouble to this beautiful country.

At the beginning of the 20th century, due to the rapid development of industry, a large amount of industrial waste appeared in many cities in Germany. Coupled with the influx of thousands of industrial workers, the accumulation of domestic waste became the most headache for city managers. . How to deal with these domestic garbage? Landfill, incineration and classified reuse are several solutions given by city managers. After a period of time, people discovered that because the garbage was not sorted in the first part of the garbage collection, the peculiar smell generated when the garbage was burned was really disgusting, and the incineration plan was the first to go out.

In 1907, the Charlottenburg district of Berlin began a trial of garbage sorting. Although the initial garbage classification plan formulated by the city managers only had three categories, it was not recognized by the residents. Coupled with the lack of supporting subsidy policies and other factors, the garbage classification plan quickly ended in failure. Since then, landfill has become the default way for Berliners to dispose of rubbish. During the Second World War, the concept of waste sorting was mentioned again in Germany, but this has nothing to do with environmental protection. It is more about the reuse of metal waste, waste plastic and other products in the wartime economy. After the war, garbage sorting was once again thrown into the historical "garbage dump".

What’s more serious is that in the 1950s and 1960s, with the re-emergence of the German economy, people with bulging pockets quickly stimulated various consumer demands. They even regarded complicated packaging as a standard for measuring the quality of products, and even Compare the amount of packaging garbage. In the 1970s, acid rain caused by industrial pollution caused widespread deaths in European forests and led to the German energy crisis. This made people truly realize the importance of energy conservation.

In 1973, the private academic organization Club of Rome issued a famous report "The Limits of Growth", which pointed out that natural resources are limited. At the same time, it gave birth to the environmental protection political party, the Green Party, a pivotal political force in Germany today. Since then, the concept of environmental protection has been deeply rooted in Germany. In order to protect trees, the German people voluntarily start sorting garbage from recycled paper. After the 1980s, a large number of waste glass and waste paper recycling bins appeared in various residential areas one after another. For this reason, Germany has accumulated experience in the circular economy.

Japan, known for its cleanliness and tidiness, has become one of the best countries in the world for garbage sorting and recycling. However, the disposal of urban garbage in Japan is not a one-day effort. What we see in order today is actually a change triggered by a protracted "Garbage War".

In the 1960s and 1970s, Japan, which had escaped the severe damage of the war, entered a period of rapid economic growth. People's living standards have been greatly improved, the amount of garbage has increased sharply, and the phenomenon of littering can be seen everywhere. In 1965, the average daily waste production in the 23 wards of central Tokyo was 7,903 tons; by 1971, this figure had become 13,971 tons, an increase of 77%. What is even more troublesome is that only 30% of the garbage can be incinerated, and the rest can only be solved by landfill.

The "Tokyo Garbage War" broke out at this time. As the existing landfills in Tokyo were gradually saturated at that time, new sites had to be opened up to deal with the ever-increasing amount of waste. To this end, on the one hand, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government built a new waste treatment plant for combustible waste; on the other hand, it decided to transport the non-combustible waste to the southern part of Koto Ward for reclamation treatment.

Koto Ward has been a landfill in Tokyo (then Edo) since 1655. In 1964, when the Metropolitan Government wanted to build the No. 15 landfill here, the Gangdong District Government and local residents who suffered from it strongly protested. Although the Metropolitan Government promised to end the landfill in 1970, the garbage disposal thereafter Will be carried out in each district separately, but this promise has not been implemented. By 1971, there were still more than 5,000 garbage trucks driving into Jiangdong District every day, causing traffic jams, flies and insects, sewage turbulence, and stench. So residents of Jiangdong District took actions to prevent garbage trucks from entering to protest this treatment. . The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has also transported garbage to Hokkaido, Shikoku, Kyushu and other places, all of which have been boycotted successively. Since the early 1970s, this fierce "garbage war" lasted more than 500 days, and finally government departments, enterprises and citizens reached a plan to jointly treat garbage.

The impact of this "garbage war" on Tokyo's municipal administration cannot be underestimated, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has thus realized the importance of municipal reforms, especially the issue of garbage disposal. In order to effectively implement waste treatment and environmental protection, since the 1980s, Japan has tried to implement a waste classification system and replaced landfill with incineration. The people have gradually developed the habit of waste classification.

Legislation to escort garbage classification

Don't think that the implementation of garbage classification is purely dependent on the self-consciousness of the people. In fact, no matter which country you are in, you can't do without the backing of meticulous, strict and even strict legislation.

Germany passed the first "Waste Avoidance and Waste Management Law" in 1972. After more than 40 years, after continuous improvement and improvement, it now has strict legislation on waste classification and clear responsibilities. Garbage disposal follows the principle of “who produces, who is responsible”. Enterprises are not only responsible for the waste disposal in the production process, but also take the responsibility for recycling their commodity packaging; the garbage produced by residents must also be paid and handled by specialized agencies. Up to now, there are more than 8,000 environmental protection laws and regulations in the German Federal and various states, more than 400 EU regulations are implemented in Germany, and 500,000 people in the German government are engaged in the management and enforcement of environmental protection laws and regulations.

In addition, Germany is also the first country to legislate for a circular economy, and it implements a “sit-and-go” punitive measure. If the staff of the garbage recycling company finds that the garbage is not strictly classified in a certain place, it will issue a warning letter to the property manager and all residents in the nearby community; if the warning is not improved after the warning, the company will increase the garbage cleaning fee in this residential area. Usually, after receiving a warning, the self-management of the property and residents will investigate one by one, find the "culprit" and request immediate improvement. According to the German fines catalogue in 2019, the fines for illegal disposal of garbage range from 10 Euros to 5000 Euros depending on the severity.

The history of Japanese garbage sorting is also a process of continuous improvement of the legal system. From the "Sweeping Law of 1900" to the "Sweeping Law" of 1954, to the "Waste Disposal Law" of 1970 and the "Basic Law for the Promotion of the Formation of a Circular Society" in 2000, the law has undergone several revisions to achieve The responsibility for garbage classification is clear, with a complete reward and punishment system and strict implementation. If there is a crime of “illegal disposal of waste”, the person who randomly discards waste will be sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years and a fine of 10 million yen; if the person who randomly discards waste is an enterprise or a corporate legal person, he will be heavily fined 3 Billion yen. Those with bad records will be affected in the future for the children of that household’s children’s schooling, employment, and even going abroad to apply for visas.

In order to regulate waste disposal, Australia has relatively sound environmental legislation, and various states have also formulated specific laws and regulations. For example, Queensland formulated the "Garbage Recycling Strategy", which levies taxes on companies that exceed the standards for waste disposal; in New South Wales, if individuals litter, they can be fined 5,000 Australian dollars. If a company does not handle garbage properly, it can be fined up to 5 million to 7 million Australian dollars. In addition to the above-mentioned penalties, the government also encourages citizens to actively report violators. In addition, Australian waste sorting and recycling attaches great importance to the participation of community residents. Taking the promotion of waste sorting in Sydney as an example, the city council held various demonstrations and hearings, repeatedly communicated with the public, and passed various relevant waste sorting after reaching an agreement. Provisions.

At the beginning of the implementation of the garbage metering and charging system in South Korea, littering and not using garbage bags occurred from time to time. In response to these problems, the South Korean government has formulated and implemented a strict supervision system. If you do not litter the garbage within the specified time or according to the classification rules, you will face a fine ranging from 100,000 to 1 million won. Since 2000, South Korea has supplemented the implementation of the "Junk Illegal Investment Report Bonus System", and the maximum amount of reward can be up to 80% of the penalty amount. Seoul City has also introduced a waste sorting and supervision system. The police, sanitation workers, etc. participate in management and supervision, and cameras are installed at the waste disposal places in the community. This supervises the behavior of random littering, and waste sorting has gradually become people's consciousness. behavior.

Disposing of trash is also a science

If the domestic garbage is mixed together, the amount of garbage that can be sorted and used will be reduced, which will increase the amount of landfill or incineration. Due to the limited end-of-life waste disposal capacity, those that cannot be incinerator can only be disposed of in landfills. Then cities will have to increase landfill land to meet the ever-increasing demand for waste disposal.

Garbage classification is only the first step in the garbage industry chain, but it is directly related to the quality and effect of terminal treatment. Therefore, various countries have taken many initiatives to implement garbage classification systems, making garbage disposal full of knowledge.

Do you know how many steps are required to throw away a beverage bottle in Japan? At least five. One is to remove the bottle cap and tear off the wrapping paper. These two items should be thrown away as combustible garbage; the second is to rinse the bottle with clean water; the third is to squash; the fourth is to put it in a bag and take it to the garbage collection point; the fifth is to specify Place the garbage bags at the designated garbage collection point on the day of the year. What day of the week, what time to throw out, what kind of garbage to put in what kind of container or bag... Japan's household garbage classification is meticulous and rigorous. Different regions have different treatment methods. In some places, there are more than 30 classifications and more than 500 clauses. It's no wonder that many people feel that Japan's garbage classification is "there are many rules, and it is almost harsh to the residents".

Each city in the UK has some differences in the methods of garbage classification and recycling. Generally, garbage is divided into six categories: recyclables, kitchen garbage, garden garbage, other garbage, bulky garbage, and medical garbage. The trash cans have standardized designs of different specifications and are used in conjunction with the cleaning truck. Residents need to place different types of garbage bags or garbage bins in designated locations at the specified time. The lid of the trash can must be buckled when throwing out trash. Trash is never allowed to overflow the lid. If the trash is misplaced, it will be punished. The fine can be as high as 2500 pounds. In serious cases, it may be prosecuted.

In the implementation and promotion of the garbage classification system, French governments and enterprises at all levels have played a significant role. Cities such as Paris have government departments responsible for environmental protection and conservation, often holding publicity and presentation activities, and are also responsible for continuously formulating incentive measures. Since France officially implemented waste sorting in 1992, more than 5,000 companies have invested about 7 billion euros to support waste sorting and recycling across the country. So far, more than 40 million tons of waste packaging waste in France have been recycled and reprocessed into primary materials such as cardboard, metal, glass bottles, and plastics, or converted into energy such as oil and heat.