Circular Economy and Construction Waste Management in China?

Circular economy is a new development concept that came into being in 1980s and 1990s, and it has gradually become a new economic trend and tide in developed countries. The concept of circular economy is put forward in view of the one-way flow mode of "resources-products-pollutants" in the traditional economy, which brings a new mode of repeated circular flow of materials of "resources-products-renewable resources". It is based on the principle of "reduction, reuse and recycling" of resources (called "3R" principle). In other words, circular economy is a comprehensive strategy that gives consideration to developing economy, saving resources and protecting the environment.

On June 5438+February 1 day, 2004, when the Political Bureau of the Central Committee held a meeting to plan economic work for next year, he proposed, "We should strengthen the awareness of saving the whole people, vigorously save energy and important resources, and accelerate the development of circular economy." This means that China will accelerate the development of circular economy and take the road of saving society. However, waste management in building materials and construction industry is one of the priority areas for developing circular economy in China at present.

Construction waste is produced in the process of building construction, decoration, maintenance and demolition, and it is an important part of urban waste, accounting for about 40% of the total urban waste. With the rapid development of China's economic construction, the output of construction waste has increased year by year, and the problems of land occupation and environmental pollution have become increasingly serious. At the same time, because China has a large population and few resources, there is also a shortage of raw materials for cement and concrete, the largest building materials. How to develop circular economy while developing buildings and realize the effective utilization and recycling of construction waste is an important way to realize sustainable development.

The management of construction waste in developed countries is 2030 years earlier than that in China. For example, as early as 1976, the United States promulgated and implemented the Law on the Protection and Recovery of Resources, stating that "there is no garbage, only misplaced resources". About 80% of construction waste in Denmark was recycled at the end of last century. The recovery rate of construction waste in Japan in 2000 was close to 90%. The recycling of waste has solved a series of problems such as resource shortage, land occupation and environmental pollution in one fell swoop.

For a long time, the management of construction waste in China is relatively weak, and construction waste is basically transported to suburbs or villages by construction units for open-air disposal without any treatment. It was not until the late 1980s and early 1990s that China began to manage construction waste in some big cities, set up special management institutions and promulgated corresponding laws and regulations. However, at present, the management of construction waste in China is not only superficial, but mainly focuses on standardizing dumping sites, transport vehicles and driving routes, and basically does not involve the key contents of circular economy such as the reduction and reuse of construction waste; There are also various problems in the management system itself, which hinder the normal management work.

Circular economy promotes the improvement of construction waste management level. Mainly from the following aspects to improve.

1 Improve the management system

Circular economy is a systematic project, which not only involves a wide range, but also depends on a complete system to support the operation of various fields. However, at present, China's construction waste management system basically follows the model of planned economy period, that is, the construction waste management department not only undertakes specific work such as qualification examination and approval, undertaking things, but also shoulders tasks such as supervision, inspection and law enforcement, while the macro-management functions such as laws, regulations, planning and policies are obviously weakened. This abnormal state of separation of government from enterprise, separation of political affairs and confusion between management and law enforcement limits the development of management. It is not conducive to finding problems and correcting them in time, and it is even more impossible to mobilize the enthusiasm of all parties.

The content of circular economy is the "3R" principle. That is, the departments implementing circular economy should take "reduction", "reuse" and "recycling" as the main means to improve the utilization rate of resources by reducing the utilization of resources and the commercialization of main wastes, thus saving resources and protecting the environment. From the management content of construction waste, the whole process of construction waste from its generation, transportation to disposal should be included in the management category. For example, the source control should be given in the process of garbage production, that is, the management and development of garbage classification and stacking, resource recovery and recycling. In the 1960s and 1970s, developed countries began to implement the "source reduction strategy of construction waste", that is, before the construction waste was formed, it was reduced through scientific management and effective control measures. At present, China's garbage management only solves the phenomenon of littering from the perspective of city appearance and environmental sanitation, which is far from enough and cannot fundamentally solve the problem.

2. Improve laws and regulations

The primary factor to promote the development of circular economy is legal compulsion. Circular economy needs operable laws and regulations to promote its development.

In terms of construction waste, there are no national laws and regulations on construction waste management in China. Although the Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Wastes stipulates in Article 4 that cleaner production should be implemented, it is only a statement of principle and has no substantive provisions. The legal gaps in this field are being filled by departmental or local regulations, which greatly weakens the legal effect and makes the phenomenon of littering happen from time to time.

In addition, there is a lack of environmental pollution control standards for construction waste management in current laws and regulations. Some indicators that need to be quantified cannot be queried, which also brings certain difficulties to the specific management work. For example, how to control the impact of building dust on urban air environment? Whether the output of construction waste should be controlled, and so on.

The law should also reflect the recovery rate of construction waste and the types of construction waste that can be used for landfill. Europe, America, Japan and other economically developed countries have carried out this research very early. And it is stipulated by law. For example, the US government stipulates in the Superfund Law: "Any enterprise that produces industrial waste must dispose of it properly by itself and shall not dump it at will." In the early 1990s, Japan enacted the Law on the Promotion of Resource Reuse, which stipulated that "in public works, when the project site is within a certain distance from the recycling facilities, whether it is economical or not, in principle, construction waste must be transported to the recycling facilities for recycling." This regulation has achieved remarkable results in the reuse of construction waste.

3. Strengthen investment in scientific research

The development of circular economy needs technical progress to promote it. It is necessary to study and develop technologies necessary for the development of circular economy, such as information technology, resource reuse technology, comprehensive energy utilization technology, alternative technology, resource saving technology, monitoring technology, transportation technology, etc.

Therefore, the scientific research on recycling construction waste is the guarantee to realize circular economy in this field. For a long time, China's scientific research investment in this field is insufficient and the deficit is large, so it is impossible to establish some corresponding technical standards and indicators. For example, the structure, strength, mechanics and other characteristics of construction waste can guide the recycling of construction waste, and the technology, method and safety factor of replacing raw materials with construction waste. Because there are some differences between construction waste and raw materials, how to make rational and effective use of construction waste is the first problem that needs in-depth study. Scientific research in this field is the fundamental guarantee for the safe, reasonable, extensive and reliable utilization of construction waste resources.

4 Use economic leverage

Interest-driven is the fundamental driving force for the development of circular economy. We should make full use of economic leverage and reward and punishment measures to promote the reduction and recycling of construction waste.

The management of construction waste charge has been implemented in China. But at present, due to the low fees, it has not played the role of economic leverage at all. For example, the charging standard of Shanghai construction waste disposal is: per ton 1-2 yuan; The charging standard in Beijing is about per ton 1.5 yuan. Such a low sewage charge standard is difficult to motivate builders to recycle construction waste. In addition, the current sales price of recycled building materials produced by construction waste is higher than the original materials, which makes it difficult to sell the recycling of construction waste. Therefore, on the one hand, increasing the charge of construction waste can stimulate the enthusiasm of builders to reduce pollution, on the other hand, the increased charge can be subsidized to the recycling of construction waste. Make the reduction and recycling of construction waste on a virtuous circle.

In addition, different standards should be adopted for the charges of construction waste. For example, the charges for classified construction waste can be reduced, while the charges for unclassified mixed construction waste are high. Encourage the source classification, collection and utilization of construction waste.

5 Policy-oriented role

The government should play a policy-oriented role in the process of establishing circular economy, and guide enterprises to consciously save energy and reduce consumption and reuse waste; In terms of investment, guide the flow of funds to related technological transformation projects and industries.

Many developed countries have turned construction waste into resources, garbage into energy, and turning waste into treasure, which is becoming a development trend. China city government should carry out the work of "construction waste recycling" in a planned way, at the same time, give appropriate support to the recycling cause in terms of policies and funds, use the treatment cost savings brought by reduction for recycling projects, and at the same time, appropriately charge construction waste recycling fees from construction units, builders and users, so as to raise funds for the development of recycling and promote the reduction of construction waste. For example, preferential policies are given to investment and industrial activities engaged in the recycling of construction waste, discount loans or preferential loans are given, and some taxes are reduced or exempted. Encourage financial institutions to inject funds into garbage disposal activities. At the same time, enterprises that invest in construction waste to a certain scale and operate well should also be given certain economic incentives to transform the government's direct investment behavior into encouragement behavior.

In terms of financing, we can take the forms of sole proprietorship, joint venture, joint-stock cooperation and government partnership to encourage domestic and foreign investment operators to participate in the operation; When necessary, such qualified enterprises are allowed to give priority to listing and issuing stocks or corporate bonds, raise funds from the society, open up social financing channels, and solve the problem of insufficient self-owned funds.

Due to the acceleration of urban and rural construction, the demand for building materials resources and the output of construction waste are rising rapidly. No matter from the perspective of resource utilization or environmental protection, we are required to take the lead in the management of construction waste and take the road of circular economy, so that the economic construction of China can develop continuously.

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