Plastic pollution has become one of the main environmental challenges in current era. There are more than 300 million tons of waste plastic per year around the world, of which only 10% is recycled. The “Science” magazine reported that about 8 million tons of plastic are washed into the ocean every year. It is estimated that by 2050, the weight of plastic waste in the ocean will exceed the total weight of fish. Moreover, a mass of plastic particles from those plastic waste would eventually enter the human body through seafood, sea salt, etc. At the first United Nations Environment Conference in 2014, marine plastic pollution was listed as one of the top ten urgent environmental problems in the world.
With the realization on plastic pollution crisis continuously deepening, how to deal with plastic pollution has become one of the common concerns by international community. The United Nations and governments of many countries are taking measures to reduce the production and use of plastic products, encouraging the recycling of plastic products.
Ehong Capital lists “plastic pollution prevention” as one of the Ehong’s impact investment themes and continues to explore commercial solutions to deal with plastic pollution. At present, there are at least three commercial solutions: biodegradable materials that replace plastics, recycling, and establish effective plastic recycling systems.
In the second half of 2019, Ehong capital invested in Zhejiang Kingsun Eco-pack Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the “company” or ” Zhejiang Kingsun”), which is an investment in degradable materials to replace plastic. The company uses bagasse, straw, and other agricultural products as raw materials to produce degradable packaging and tableware. It is one of the largest manufacturers of such products in China. Its products can replace traditional plastic products and reduce the use of plastics from the source.
Part of Zhejiang Kingsun’s product
In the first half of this year, Ehong capital invested in Ningbo Helong New Material Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Ningbo Helong” or the “Company”) and explored in plastic recycling. Ningbo Helong is a high-tech enterprise focusing on the research and development, production and sales of wood-plastic composite (WPC) products from recycling waste plastics and wooden flour. It is in the top ranked of WPC enterprises in China. The raw materials used by the company are mainly waste plastics and wood scraps which from the furniture manufacturer. In the next four years, Ningbo Helong plans to purchase more than 50,000 tons of waste plastic raw materials. In the future, Ehong will cooperate with Ningbo Helong to continuously track and manage the company’s social and environmental influence and promote the company to make greater contributions in tackling plastic pollution.
Refer to statistics from the Recycling Plastics Branch of the China National Resources Recycling Association, only 18.9 million tons of plastic waste were recycled, which of 63 million tons of waste plastic produced in China in 2019, with a recycling rate of 30%. A considerable portion of waste plastics are disposed through landfills. The waste plastics accumulated in the soil has been causing serious damage to the environment. Recycled plastics are recycled, sorted, broken, cleaned, melted and granulated, and then converted into raw materials. The use of recycled plastic material could reduce the landfill and incineration of waste plastics. It is an effective way to deal with plastic pollution.
WPC used around swimming pool
Under the theme of plastic pollution prevention, Ehong Capital is still actively looking for scientific and effective plastic recycling solutions. Due to the non-separation of dry and wet waste, and too many impurities, the quality of a large number of plastic waste is not up to standard, and due to manual sorting, the treatment cost is too high, resulting in a large number of waste plastics can not be effectively recycled. Ehong Capital believes that there will be a better innovative measure to solve the current problem in plastic recycling.
Under the guidance of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals framework, Ehong capital insists looking for commercial solution to the corresponding theme by focusing on the social and environmental issues. Devoting to support、invest innovative enterprises which could solve social and environment issues in large scale, and promote the sustainable development of mankind.
Author: Ehong Capital