Knowledge Agora



Similar Articles

Title Greening Industrial Production through Waste Recovery: "Comprehensive Utilization of Resources" in China
ID_Doc 24793
Authors Zhu, JM; Chertow, MR
Title Greening Industrial Production through Waste Recovery: "Comprehensive Utilization of Resources" in China
Year 2016
Published Environmental Science & Technology, 50, 5
Abstract Using nonhazardous wastes as inputs to production creates environmental benefits by avoiding disposal impacts, mitigating manufacturing impacts, and conserving virgin resources. China has incentivized reuse since the 1980s through the "Comprehensive Utilization of Resources (CUR)" policy. To test whether and to what extent environmental benefits are generated, 862 instances in Jiangsu, China are analyzed, representing eight industrial sectors and 25 products that qualified for tax relief through CUR Benefits are determined by comparing life cycle inventories for the same product from baseline and CUR-certified production, adjusted for any difference in the use phase. More than 50 million tonnes of solid wastes were reused, equivalent to 51% of the provincial industrial total. Benefits included reduction of 161 petajoules of energy, 23 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, 75 000 tonnes of SO2 equivalent, 33 000 tonnes of NOX, and 28 000 tonnes of PM10 equivalent, which were 2.5%-7.3% of the provincial industrial consumption and emissions. The benefits vary substantially across industries, among products within the same industry, and when comparing alternative reuse processes for the same waste. This first assessment of CUR results shows that CUR has established a firm foundation for a circular economy, but also suggest additional opportunities to refine incentives under CUR to increase environmental gain.
PDF

Similar Articles

ID Score Article
8388 Kanwal, Q; Zeng, XL; Li, JH Measuring the recycling potential of industrial waste for long-term sustainability(2023)Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, 10.0, 1
28380 Li, N; Zhang, TZ; Liang, S Reutilisation-extended material flows and circular economy in China(2013)Waste Management, 33.0, 6
28653 Tsai, WT Promoting the Circular Economy via Waste-to-Power (WTP) in Taiwan(2019)Resources-Basel, 8.0, 2
13683 Wang, HN; Wang, XE; Song, JN; Ren, JZ; Duan, HY Energy conversion of urban wastes in China: Insights into potentials and disparities of regional energy and environmental benefits(2019)
1904 Liu, Z; Adams, M; Cote, RP; Chen, QH; Wu, R; Wen, ZG; Liu, WL; Dong, L How does circular economy respond to greenhouse gas emissions reduction: An analysis of Chinese plastic recycling industries(2018)
5241 Liu, Z; Adams, M; Walker, TR Are exports of recyclables from developed to developing countries waste pollution transfer or part of the global circular economy?(2018)
27613 Li, D; Wang, MQ; Lee, C The waste treatment and recycling efficiency of industrial waste processing based on two-stage data envelopment analysis with undesirable inputs(2020)
4846 Ji, L; Sun, YA; Liu, JW; Chiu, YH Analysis of the circular economy efficiency of China's industrial wastewater and solid waste- based on a comparison before and after the 13th Five-Year Plan(2023)
25510 Song, LL; van Ewijk, S; Masanet, E; Watari, T; Meng, FR; Cullen, JM; Cao, Z; Chen, WQ China's bulk material loops can be closed but deep decarbonization requires demand reduction(2023)
1250 Qu, S; Guo, YH; Ma, ZJ; Chen, WQ; Liu, JG; Liu, G; Wang, YT; Xu, M Implications of China's foreign waste ban on the global circular economy(2019)
Scroll