The 13th ‘Five-Year’ Plan for Recycled Chemical Fiber Industry...viscose fibers after pulping...

The 13th ‘Five-Year’ Plan for Recycled Chemical Fiber Industry

Lin Shidong

Recycled Chemical Fiber Committee of CCFA September 17, 2015 Pudong, Shanghai

Preface I. Review of recycled chemical fiber industry during the

12th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period II. Situation analysis of recycled chemical fiber industry

during the 13th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period III. Guiding ideology and development targets during the

13th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period IV. Major issues and primary tasks during the 13th ‘Five-

Year’ Plan period V. Key policies and suggestion on safeguard measures Conclusion

Content

Preface China’s history of waste textile recycling can be traced to ancient Northern and Southern Dynasties, and a history of over one hundred years can also be recognized for waste textile recycling in modern times. After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, the recycling of cotton waste began in 1960s; recycled polyester fiber industry developed from early 1980s; recycled PP fiber industry started from end 1980s; and the recycling of high-performance fiber -- PPS fiber, marched from the end of 20th century. China’s domestic recycled chemical fiber industry was spontaneously formed by the individuals who tried to solve the outlet problem of start-up PET lump and production wastes (chips and fibers) so as to reduce production cost. Nowadays, waste plastics, waste yarn, the scraps generated during weaving, printing & dyeing, and apparel making, as well as post-consumer end products including apparels, home textiles and industrial textiles, are all recyclable.

Preface

With the improvement of living standards, the varieties of the three major terminal products and packaging materials become richer and richer, especially the rapid development of high-performance technical fibers applied in the industrial fields. The molecular structures of materials of these products are more stable, indicating more difficult in treatment of such wastes, and in turn bringing new problems. During the 12th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period, the country has defined ‘the recycling of waste textiles and waste plastics’ as strategic emerging industry for energy saving and environmental protection, as recycled chemical fiber industry is an important practitioner to implement circular economy and establish resource-saving society, and conform to the development mode of low-carbon economy and the national strategy of sustainable development. From the beginning of the 12th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period, the indicators including energy consumption, raw material consumption, water consumption and emission per unit of GDP of recycled chemical fiber industry have reduced greatly, not only boosting the structure optimization and upgrade and development mode change, but also converting the traditional governance mode of “first polluting and then treating”, as well as the traditional growth pattern and consumption model of “mass production, mass consumption and mass wastes”. Besides, with the help of industrial alliance, the R&D of a series of key generic technologies has been supported, so that the industrial system is gradually perfected with more distinct economic, social and environmental benefits.

Preface

Due to the low threshold of the industry, many new problems spring up following fast development of nearly 15 years, including raw material shortage, low product differentiation, emission cut pressure, financing difficulty, lagging development of derivative applications and the social bias on recycled fibers. Currently, the global economy is recovering with arduous and tortuous, while China’s economic development has stepped into the New Normal. During the 13th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period, considering the resource shortage will further intensify, it is impossible for China’s recycled chemical fiber industry to continue with rapid development, simple expansion and extensive growth, with severe challenges in front of sustainable development. The industry urgently needs to adjust economic structure and change growth mode, in order to improve peoples’ living quality, construct beautiful China and take the responsibilities for the international community. This Development Planning is specifically drafted, to scientifically guide the benign development of China’s recycled chemical fiber industry during the 13th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period and further standardize the industry order. Recycled chemical fibers referred in this Planning include recycled polyester fiber, recycled PP fiber, recycled high-performance fiber (particularly recycled PPS fiber) and some other sub-industries. As pure cotton end products can be used to make viscose fibers after pulping while blended fabrics contain over 80% of chemical fibers in raw material, recycled textiles are also inclusive in this Planning, to provide a comprehensive overview of recycled chemical fiber industry.

• Development characteristics during the 12th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period

I. Review of recycled chemical fiber industry during the 12th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period

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2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Capacity, kt/yr

Production, kt

From the beginning of the 12th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period, China’s recycled chemical fiber industry has realized fast growths in both capacity and production, with both annual growth rates exceeding 10% and ranking the forefront of the world.

1. Capacity and production increase rapidly


2. Raw material consumption structure changes Global waste textiles amount to over 40 million tons every year, with that in China taking up the half, while the recycled volume of waste plastics arrives at nearly 200 million tons, with that in China occupying one-fifth. These wastes are able to attain the goals of savings of energy, water, land and material, via comprehensive utilization, which is understood to be the fresh sources of raw materials. For years, the public media have always propagandized the event of ‘shoddy cotton’, which is actually due to no mandatory product standards. The concept of ‘shoddy cotton’ comes into being when the materials are incorrectly applied as warmth keeping materials for civil use, instead of as thermal insulation materials for agricultural greenhouses or sound-insulation, thermal-insulation and damping materials for industrial use. And in turn the mass gradually hold the thinking that waste textiles are not something good. On the contrary, international famous brands like Zegna, Armani, LV, Air Holland, Nike, Li-Ning, Wal-Mart, Marks & Spencer, IKEA and Sonny are strengthening the popularization of raw materials and products based on waste textiles and plastics, consumption fashion, consumption concept, etc.


3. Location concentration increases greatly

Following years of rapid development, recycled chemical fiber capacity has reached 13.52 million tons per year in 2015. Hereinto, the capacity of recycled polyester fiber is at 9.6 million tons per year, ranking the first in terms of utilization; that of recycled textiles is at 3.5 million tons per year; that of recycled PP fiber is at 420 kt/yr; and that of recycled PPS fiber is at 1,500 tons/year. As for recycled polyester fiber sector, the enterprises are mainly located in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hebei, Guangdong and Shandong. As for recycled textile sector, they are mainly located in Zhejiang, Guangdong, Hubei and Anhui. As for recycled PP fiber sector, they are mainly located in Guangdong, Fujian and Jiangsu. And as for recycled PPS fiber, they are mainly located in Jiangsu.


4. Product mix further optimizes During the 12th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period, the enterprises put more efforts on new product development, and exploited new markets, new fields and new applications by means of single-function or multi-function products (modified, composite, poly-blended, profiled, colored and functional). And the words of small batches, multi varieties, high quality and differentiation become the mainstream characteristics of recycled products, which cover recycled filament yarn, cotton-type fiber, wool-type fiber, filling materials and nonwoven-use materials, mainly applied in three major terminal fields, namely apparel, home textiles and industrial textiles. Raw materials (post consumer bottle/flake) of recycled polyester fiber possess intrinsic advantages of super brightness, high viscosity and being more environmental friendly, especially when utilizing the color of raw materials to make corresponding colored fibers, as it not only generates good economic benefits, but also reduces environmental pollution. Currently, recycled polyester fibers have been widely applied in the fields including cotton-spinning, wool-spinning, nonwoven, automotive trim, fabric for clothing, bedding, hygienic material, filtering material, insulating material, etc. Development of normal pressure and room temperature dyeable recycled polyester fiber, development of low-melt-point recycled polyester staple fiber (R-PSF) and successful startup of close-loop industry chain for complete alcoholysis of waster polyester textiles symbolizes that China’s recycled polyester fiber sector has marked a new step forward. As for recycled PP fiber, in addition to regular specs, anti-aging series and recycled PP woven fabrics are developed and mainly used as the auxiliary materials for outdoor application. Recycled PP fabrics are mainly used to make recycled luggage, such as reusable shopping bags, reusable laptop bags and slippers, and with all the materials used are 100% recyclable, an autonomous and close-loop system is formed.


4. Product mix further optimizes Regular waste pure cotton textiles will be converted into recycled fiber, following the process of unpacking, smashing and bleaching, after they are purchased. Then use 50-70% recycled fiber plus 30-50% raw cotton or fiber for blending and carding, and finally make open-end yarn (or friction yarn) via rotor spinning (or friction spinning). Some of these OE yarn are made into pet products, which will be exported to Europe, the US, Japan and Russia, taking up 50% of yarn-based pet product market worldwide. Some of them will be made into colored pile blanket and top-grade decorative articles via deep processing. Most of the OE yarn are sold to domestic markets, and be used to make denim fabric. Coarse yarn via special processing will be made into mops following doubling, twisting and tailoring, which will then be exported to Europe, the US and Japan. And the added value of recycled products made from high-value pure cotton production waste will be higher. Besides, all kinds of colored leftover materials can be utilized to make casual wears, which will attract modern young people. The terminal products made from leftover materials have marched into international high-end apparel and medical markets. The utilization of waste textiles, especially the blended products, is mainly in the industrial fields, such as cushioning material, cladding material, filtering material, building material, and decorating material.


4. Product mix further optimizes

Development of waste pure wool products mainly focuses on clothing, due to high added value of wool and mature processing technologies. Wool fiber from post-consumer sweaters and woolen clothes can be directly processed into woolen fabrics and sweaters, whose quality is not inferior to products made from wool. Recycled wool fiber with long fiber length can be mixed with virgin wool for ring spinning, rotor spinning, friction spinning and parallel spinning. Following the development of nearly 50 years, the capacity of high-performance fiber has reached nearly 150 kt/yr, and despite a small proportion in chemical fiber industry, the treatment of its wastes turns to be tough due to stable molecular structure. So, the recycling of high-performance fiber should be conducted sooner rather than later. One way is to grind high-performance materials into powder, and then apply them in electron, electric, mechanical and automobile industries. The other way is to spin with recycled materials from high-performance textiles. Moreover, an additional application is presented, which is similar to the re-melt-spinning of PPS.


5. Private enterprises as the main force of the industry

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Private >90 >91 >92 >93 >94

Foreign 9 8 7 6 5

State <1 <1 <1 <1 <1

Private enterprises take the majority in this industry, with the state-owned capital only taking up less than 1%. And as the aim of foreign capitals was mainly for the preferential policies in earlier days which would be due around 2015, a large amount of foreign-invested enterprises will be converted into domestic private enterprises.


6. Technological progress further improves In recycled polyester fiber sector, by means of technological integration and equipment innovation, the single-line capacity of 40 kt/yr has been realized for cotton-type and conjugated R-PSF, with the single-line capacity of 40 kt/yr for low-melting-point R-PSF and large-scale production of recycled polyester filament yarn (R-PFY) including POY, DTY, FDY, industrial yarn, colored yarn, functional yarn, profiled yarn and blended yarn. Innovations of technology and equipment are mainly embodied in raw material cleaning equipments, fiber production and sewage treatment (recycling rate of reclaimed water at over 90%). As for treatment equipments for waste textiles, material separators, dedicated sterilizing equipments, auto color sorters, auto button-removing machines etc. have been developed. As for recycled PP fiber sector, during the 12th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period, the alliance optimized production technologies, and realized continuous short-process spinning of recycled PP filament yarn, which opened up a new production mode for recycled PP fiber sector in China or even in the world. As for recycled PPS fiber, the equipments are mainly the ones to produce R-PSF and R-PFY, with the differences lying in working temperatures, seeing that for screw extruder heating ring at 500℃, for conduction oil at 450℃ and for heat-setting equipment at over 180℃.


7. Remarkable success in energy saving and emission reduction

Variety Energy saving Emission reduction

Recycled PET fiber

Comprehensive energy consumption of post consumer bottle/flake down by over 22%, of R-PFY down by over 15%, of R-PSF down by over 10%

Reuse rate of process water at over 85%, and indicators for SO2 and VOC also reduce sharply

Recycled PP fiber

Power saving of 917 KwH per ton for 10,000-ton production Water saving of 12.38 tons

Waste textiles Each use of 1-kg waste textiles can reduce 3.6 kg of CO2 emission

Water saving of 6,000 liter, and reduction of 0.3 kg of fertilizer and 0.2 kg of pesticide

Recycled PPS fiber Refer to recycled PET fiber


• Existing problems

Variety Import volume

Recycled PET fiber

Import volume of 2.0-2.2 million tons per year of post-consumer PET bottles/flakes, against domestic volumes of 3.0-3.2 million tons per year of post-consumer PET bottles/flakes, 300-400 kt per year of waste fibers, 0.8-1 million tons per year of PET-based waste textiles

Recycled PP fiber 300 kt

Recycled PPS fiber 1,500 tons

Recycled textiles 4 million tons per year of leftover materials (deducting that of PET-based waste textiles), including 200 kt per year of imported ones

1. High import dependency for basic raw materials


2 Prices in correction due to imbalanced fundamentals

Virgin POY

Recycled POY


3. Enterprises’ average capacity too dispersed Taking recycled polyester fiber sector as an example, the number of enterprises reaches 516, while the reasons for such high number are various, but mainly include low capital threshold, low local requirements for environmental protection, low enterprise social responsibility, price edge of recycled raw materials against high oil prices in recent years and low utilization of import approvals.

Scale Number Combined capacity (kt/yr) Proportion %

Over 200 kt/yr 7 1,800 18.9 100-200 kt/yr 12 1,200 12.6 30-100 kt/yr 110 3,900 41.1

30 kt/yr and below 390 2,600 27.4 Total 516 9,500 100


4. Low run rates

During the 12th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period, the capacity of recycled polyester fiber grew by nearly 63%, while the production only increased by 58%, with run rate at 60%. Otherwise, run rate of recycled PP fiber sector was at 78%. Run rate in domestic waste textiles sector was only at 70%, despite an annual growth rate of 20%. As for recycled PPS fiber enterprises, their operations are not persistent, as they arrange production based on raw material imports and market orders.

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Recycled PET fiber 61.30% 57.70% 66.30% 67.40% 58.90% 62.50%

Recycled PP fiber 90.00% 81.50% 80% 75.00% 75.00% 78.60%

Waste textiles 85% 89.20% 83.30% 75.00% 73.30% 70.00%

Recycled PPS fiber Based on market orders, nonpersistent

II. Situation analysis of recycled chemical fiber industry during the 13th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period

In China’s recycled chemical fiber industry, the growth speed is shifting from high to medium-to-low; the development mode is changing from extensive growth to intensive growth; the economic structure is turning from capacity expansion to transformation and upgrade; and the development momentum is veering from factor and investment driven to innovation driven. Currently, China’s domestic demand is woefully inadequate, while its development of foreign trade is also facing the reality of limited improvement in international environment.

• Analysis on external environment 1 Major influence factors from the external are in the following aspects: ① In 2016-2020, China will limit annual CO2 emission at below 10 billion tons (now at 8 billion tons). Energy consumption of China’s textile industry takes up 4.3% of the total, mainly for steam with the rate of thermal energy utilization at 35% or so, indicating heavy pressure from reducing carbon emission. As recycling is favorable to carbon emission reduction, textile industry will then reach and undertake the corresponding task of emission reduction, if the country encourage and facilitate the development of recycled chemical fiber industry.

② Asia-Pacific Free Trade Agreement: The leading enterprises should be familiar with privilege in cross-board transaction and investment, and in turn take advantage of zero tariffs to set up raw material processing plants and integrate and extend the industry chain in Southeast Asia, as well as make use of the transfer of transnational enterprises to establish terminal production site. ③ Reindustrialization in Europe and the US: In allusion to investment attraction to Chinese enterprises by Europe and the US, the enterprises who both purchase a large amount of recycled raw materials and sell products there should determine their target countries and locations as soon as possible, to build plants there , so as to reduce ocean freight cost and in turn increase benefits. At the same time, the enterprises should also be wary of the risks of tax, law, culture and currency exchange. ④ Anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard measures: Virgin and recycled products share the same HS codes, while during the 12th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period, 6 related codes involving staple fiber and filament yarn are covered for anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard measures. Enterprises should strengthen R&D, so as to evade the involved regular products, actively develop derivative products with the orientation on differentiation, or produce in the countries with market economy to avoid trade barrier.


⑤ Green barrier: With stronger recognitions on environment among consumers, recycled materials have become their first choice. Green purchasing and international low-carbon requirements have been the threshold for recycled chemical fiber industry. In recent years, leading enterprises actively take part in comprehensive international certifications, to keep the pace with the global trend, and in turn boost their sales worldwide. The related certifications concerning recycled products, recycling systems and carbon footprint are Britain’s Intertek, the Netherlands’’ CU, Switzerland’s Oeko-tex, the US’s SGS, Japan’s Ecocircle and Global Recycling Standard. However, none of them belong to China. Thus, it is imperative for China to set up its own certification system with Chinese characteristics, under the guidance of related departments and associations, with the utilization of domestic third-party organizations.


2. Major influence factors from the internal are in the following aspects: ① Integration of informatization and industrialization: Focus on the promotion of ERP management system, e-commerce system, professional invoicing system and supply chain management system that are suitable for recycling industry; research and develop embedded system for special equipments; and develop public information service platform that faces small- and medium-size enterprises in industrial clusters, as well as specialized markets. Recycling industry promotes productivity and industrial transformation and upgrade, with modernized, automatic and intelligent technologies and equipments replacing labor force. The professional foreign trade e-commerce system, workshop robots and intelligent warehousing popularized by Zhejiang and Jiangsu mark a significant step forward in realizing whole-course operation automation. ② Industrial transfer: Given the factors like resource, environmental protection, transport, human resource, capital, interest rates and exchange rates in China, the recycling industry in East China is moving to the central and western regions of China; China’s recycling industry is moving to Southeast Asia, Africa and developed countries; and foreign brand manufactures and industries are also moving to Southeast Asia, Africa and developed countries. The large-scale distributions of leading enterprises of recycling industry in the central and western regions of China and overseas explain the urgency of transfer. The industrial transfer turns to be irreversible, but the advantages from industrial clusters and platforms can slow down the speed and in turn prolong the period.


③ One Belt, One Road: Along ‘One Belt, One Road’, the total population is around 4.4 billion, while the economic aggregate is at around $21 trillion, taking up 63% and 29% respectively of the world, with the most countries being resource or energy ones. The industry should accelerate the industrial distributions in related countries, in order to relieve the pressure from huge capacity and resource shortage domestically. The implementation of strategic layout of product going-out and raw material going-in has economic benefits and practical significance in easing raw material shortage and capacity overhang in China’s textile industry. The associations should play the bridging role in industrial transfer, especially coordinating the government’s import and export duties, industrial policies and export credit fund support on related products, and providing information in targeted countries. At the time point that the undertaking of textile industrial transfer slows down in the central and western regions of China, the associations should lead enterprises to investment in Xinjiang and encourage investment in the surrounding countries.


④ Condition for industrial standards: Reconstruction of recycled chemical fiber industry ⑤ Establishment of recycling industry alliance: On 2 September 2011, the alliance was established, with 42 members and a total capacity at 1.93 million tons per year, covering recycled chemical fiber producers, upstream and downstream equipment manufacturers, related scientific research institutions and universities. ⑥ Brand building: The past development mode of competing depending on volume, price and payment days is now unworkable. As demonstrated in China Fibers Fashion Trends, the industry should enhance the integrated competitiveness of the industry chain and increase the contribution rate of brands to the development, with the orientation shifting to new product development and innovation. ⑦ Green purchasing: The industry standardizes purchasing of green raw materials and auxiliary materials for recycled polyester fiber industry, opening the path for national purchase for the whole industrial chain.


⑧ New environmental protection law: The revised Law of Environmental Protection of the People's Republic China has taken effect since 1 January 2015. ⑨ Concentrated management: Improve the overall competitiveness of recycling industry. ⑩ Lower exchange rates, interest rates and required reserve ratios, as well as a moderate increase in export rebate rates, can reduce production cost on recycling enterprises, and in turn increase international competitiveness of products, which will be favorable to ‘Go-out’ strategy.


• Opportunities in development 1. Extraordinary emphasis and support from the government During the 12th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period, the State Council and related departments released policies and regulations to encourage the development of recycling industry, which indicated a better tomorrow for the industry. 2. Advantages of complete industry chain and cluster The status of recycling industry has changed from supplementary to alternative, forming obvious comparative advantage. Currently, the industry chain mode has taken shape, with production centers in Cixi of Zhejiang (filling materials and R-PFY), Jiangyin of Jiangsu (cotton-type colored R-PSF) and Puning of Guangdong (super raw-white cotton-type R-PSF) and major suppliers of textiles made from recycled raw materials in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, Hebei and Guangdong. 3. Pioneering advantages from R&D of technology, equipment and product China has been the leader in recycling industry worldwide, seeing recycling process, technology, equipment and product form own system, and use intelligent equipments in advance, with products, technologies and equipments already exported to the developed countries in the US and Europe. Profoundly understand ‘Made in China 2025’, and combine the characteristics of being scattered, mixed, disordered and many for raw material sources of China’s recycling industry, to guide the development of equipment manufacturing of recycling industry. 4. Labor’s quality China’s manufacturing industry mainly depends on rich and cheap labor forces, but with the wage on the rise, the international competitiveness will fade away, which means the outbound industrial transfer seems to be inevitable.


1. Capacity relatively excessive Due to the big difference between raw materials and many impurities, the run rate of recycling industry is low. Meanwhile, no profit margin has been a new normal for regular recycled chemical fibers, reflecting that the industrial capacity has become excessive, which is understood to be a major problem facing the industry’s sustainable development. Then, during the 13th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period, guiding the healthy development of recycling industry with the setup of cleaner production threshold and the phase-out of outdated capacities will be the major task. 2. Severe product homogeneity Competition from homogeneity is also a key problem impacting the sustainable development of recycling industry. Given low threshold of the industry and large-scale capacity expansions, product homogeneity has been severe, which disturbs the market. Under such background, innovation will be a key step for the healthy development of the industry, as it will help boost the light weighing, high-end orientation and diversification of recycled products, as well as the retrofit and upgrade of professional equipments, while guide industrial transfer, transformation and upgrade, and structural adjustment.

• Problems and challenges in development


3. Huge environmental pressure During the 12th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period, the recycling industry has achieved excellent results, but the pressure on the environment turns to be huge due to the inherent attributes of its production processes, such as the large amount of fresh water consumption and sewage/solid wastes emission, and secondary pollution due to further cleaning and sorting. 4. High appeals for industry integration Given low capital threshold, low technical requirement and no mandatory certification system, China’s recycling industry fails to form good credit and scale merit. During the 13th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period, it is necessary for the industry to integrate, aiming to eliminate outdated capacities via reorganization and merger, and encourage the development of advanced productivity.


III. Guiding ideology and development targets during the 13th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period

• Guiding ideology Under the guidance of scientific development perspective, encourage innovation and propel green consumption, while establish complete recycling system, to improve industrial integration and boost the construction of resource-saving and environmental-friendly society, with the enhancement of ecological civilization.

• Basic principle

Give priority to retrofit or phase out existing capacities, while optimize the new capacities to be added, so as to form a rational distribution. Coupled with cleaner production and green purchasing, the unification of economic benefits with environmental benefits and social benefits will be realized.

1. Target of industrial development By 2020, the annual production of recycled chemical fiber is set to reach 13 million tons, with total industrial output value at 150 billion yuan. Hereinto, the capacity of recycled polyester fiber is set to reach 10 million tons per year, with production at 8 million tons; the capacity of recycled PP fiber is to reach 500 kt/yr, with production at 450 kt; the production of recycled PPS fiber is to reach 5 kt; and the capacity of waste textiles is to reach 5.5 million tons per year, with production at 4.5 million tons. By 2020, following structural adjustment, the production growth will exceed the capacity growth in recycling industry, with the capacity generally unchanged. With optimization of recycled products and expansion of application fields, the proportion of output value of differentiated, multi-functional and composite recycled fibers will increase significantly. By 2020, the alliance technology and engineering centers will be constructed, mainly in the eastern regions. Hereinto, the numbers of provincial-level or above and municipal-level or above enterprise technology center and engineering and technology R&D center are projected at 15 and 30 respectively, with the expenditure on R&D at over 1.5% of sales revenue and new product output value at over 25% of the total. Besides, the independent innovation capability of leading enterprises of the alliance further strengthens.


• Development targets

By 2020, the newly added provincial-level famous trademarks and municipal-level well-known trademarks are set to reach 30 and 60 respectively, with the output value of municipal-level or above brands at over 60% of the total. By 2020, the economic benefits of recycled chemical fiber industry is to improve obviously, with comprehensive energy consumption per 10,000-yuan output value further down by 10%, discharge amount of industrial wastes (gas, water, solid) further reducing and reuse rate of process water at over 90%. And with the popularization of robots, the labor productivity will be advanced further. By 2020, recycled chemical fiber industry will carry out ‘raw material technology come-in and product technology go-out’ strategy, led by the alliance leaders. By 2020, the total discharge amount of major pollutants is set to decrease by 10% compared with 2015, with that of COD and SO2 both down by 10%. 2. Target of technology, equipment and product development Implement step by step in accordance with time schedule. Carry out multiple measures based on product market classification. And promote dedicated equipments as per technical indicators.


IV. Major issues and primary tasks during the 13th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period

1. Development of functionality of recycled polyester fiber: Develop functional and differentiated fibers (high flexibility, high stretch, antibiosis, flame retardant, far IR) based on the content of PP, PE, PA, PEN and PVC in raw materials, with large scale production capacity. Develop applicable dedicated masterbatch, to make colored recycled fiber with various specs and series. Strengthen the exploitation of room-temperature detergents used in raw material treatment, and increase the IV of R-PET to reach the standards of making regular industrial yarn, with large-scale production. 2. Comprehensive exploitation of waste textiles: Put emphasis on the development of fast identifying and sorting technologies for the components of waste textiles, manufacturing technologies for recycled fiber based on waste polyester and T/C textiles, and application technologies for other blended fabrics in industrial textile fields, making a breakthrough in processing capacity in demotic high-efficient sorting equipments, especially for waste textiles (capacity at over 6 tons/hour). Put emphasis on the development of drilling agents mainly made from waste textiles.

• Key issues concerning development during the 13th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period

3. Comprehensive development of recycled PP fiber: Produce engineering fiber on recycled PP fiber lines via modification technology, and apply the product to fire hose production. Use recycled PP-containing materials to make fine/super-fine recycled PP fiber. Develop recycling technology for recycling PE/PP plastics mixture, to broaden the scope of raw material. 4. Development of functionality of recycled PPS fiber: Raise high temperature resistance to above 400℃ via nano-modification coupled with compound weaving. Great breakthrough will be realized in recycling technology for high-performance fibers including carbon fiber and aramid fiber. 5. Pulping technologies for waste cotton products and rayon products: Realize the pilot test and industrialization of green pulping from waste cotton and rayon products, to meet the demand from viscose fiber and its derivative products. 6. Accelerate the development in physical/chemical-recycling of nylon fiber, spandex fiber, PVA fiber, acrylic fiber and other high-performance fibers, including technology, pilot test and industrialization. 7. Improvement in complete equipments: During the 12th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period, China’s machining capability and manufacturing kept elevating. During the 13th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period, China will materialize the world-leading intelligent equipments for raw material processing and fiber production in recycling industry.


1. Drive the promotion of a series of industrial generic technologies ① Functionality and differentiation of recycled polyester fibers In allusion to large amount and low utilization of waste polyester-containing textiles, an integrated recycling system (mainly based on chemical-recycling) that is suitable for China should be established. Develop differentiated or functional recycled fibers (colored, room-temperature dyeable, hydrophilic, low-melt-point, etc.) to broaden recycled fiber market and elevate the added value of products. ② Key recycling technology for multi-composition waste textiles Based on current situations, the use of single-composition fabrics in apparel and home textiles making is lessening and lessening, while that of composite and co-polymer fabrics is growing rapidly. Thus, the difficulty in recycling is also increasing. So, it is necessary to set up fast detecting system for waste textiles, with separation and filtration technologies and equipments for multi compositions, and realize the industrialization of integrated engineering technology and large-scale plant (10kt/yr level).


• Major tasks during the 13th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period

③ Recycling projects of waste plastics Change the characteristics of thermoplastic materials, via methods including chemical similar-conversion, crosslinking, grafting, blocking, chain extension, degradation, depolymerization and so on, to adapt to the new needs of industrial plastics. ④ Comprehensive utilization of high-performance fibers Recycling of high-performance fibers should not be simply conducted due to high value and difficulty in natural degradation. Given the complexity and multi-function of technical materials, fine grinding will be adopted before blending with engineering plastics, to make high-end industrial thermoplastic materials for high-performance, multi-functional and multi-purpose fields. ⑤ “Internet+” applications Under the New Normal of economic development, “internet+” applications have brought forward significant reforms on the whole recycling chain. In the sections of product selling and raw material sourcing, radio frequency identification (RFID) is introduced to obtain a series of information from manufacturing to circulation and marketing, so as to form effective closed information loop for producers, distributors and consumers. Traditional recycling is easy to generate secondary pollution, so the establishment of electronic communication platform for recycling channels can reduce circulation, cut cost and improve quality. Currently, intelligent equipments and warehousing, robot arm, ERP and DCS systems have been applied in recycling lines, which can not only reduce labor cost, but also improve product quality via reducing man-made interference.


2. Popularize a batch of latest energy-saving and emission-reduction technologies By means of the application of latest technology integration and equipment innovation, the comprehensive indicators of energy saving and emission reduction of recycling industry is set to reduce by over 10%. 3. Guide a batch of industrialized demonstration projects ① Industrialized demonstration project of low-melt-point R-PSF ② Demonstration of chemical-recycling ③ Demonstration of applications of recycled colored yarn made from waste textiles ④ Demonstration of industrialized comprehensive high-value applications of waste textiles ⑤ Demonstration of comprehensive high-value applications of direct melt spinning technology of recycled PP fiber


V. Key policies and suggestion on safeguard measures

Industrial policy: Practically implement the Catalogue for Guiding Industry Restructuring, the Catalogue for Guiding Foreign Investment, the Catalogue of Restricted Uses of Land and the Catalogue of Prohibited Uses of Land. Further increase the industry threshold, and strictly stick to the constraint on energy saving, environmental protection, land and safety. Investment policy: Avoid over-investment in resource utilization, and give priority to recycling projects. Give play to the guiding function of government investment, to attract all kinds of social funds to invest into recycled chemical fiber industry. Fiscal policy: Establish the promotion mechanism for recycled products certificated by the government (product, system, carbon footprint, green purchasing, etc.). Reinforce the support from government procurement, with preference for renewable products. Tax policy: Further implement and perfect preferential tax policies for comprehensive utilization of resources. Study, formulate and perfect tax policies that boost the set-up of resource recycling system. Reduce or exempt import tariffs within prescribed limit for technologies and equipments that cannot be manufactured domestically or whose introductions are encouraged by the government.

Financial policy: Encourage banks and financial institutions to provide key projects with diversified credit aids including unsecured loan. Support eligible enterprises to apply for listing and refinancing in domestic and overseas markets. Encourage the establishment of venture capital fund of the industry. Strengthen the guiding function of the industry: Change the unhealthy conditions of small scale, scatter and disarray, to avoid the unfavorable situation of overcapacity, serious homogenization and cutthroat competition. Better implement the relevant policies of the country, to enhance the industrial self-discipline in production, development and pricing, and carry out international Communication to promote technology progress and increase the cohesion of industry. In allusion to the current situation of low industrial run rates, the industry association should strictly control the industry access, and guide the adjustment of industrial structure. Establish sound standard and measuring systems: Accelerate the formulation of standards for the processing methods and products of recycled chemical fiber utilization. Set up and perfect the metering and testing systems for recycled chemical fiber industry.


Number of product standards during the 12th ‘Five-Year’ Plan

Estimate of qualified products during the 13th ‘Five-Year’ Plan

Chemical fiber industry 226 ≥400

Recycled chemical fiber industry 10 ≥15

Carry out extended producer responsibility system: Establish compensation mechanism, and perfect relevant laws and regulations, to set up extended producer responsibility system, so as to propel producers to fulfill the responsibility of recycling and treatment of waste products. Study and set up producer responsibility system for mandatory recycling their products, packaging and textiles. Study refundable deposit recycling system for waste products including drink bottles. Speed up the development of key generic technologies: Push forward the Technology Innovation Strategic Alliance for Chemical Fiber Recycling and Circular Economy, and intensify the cooperation of producers, universities, research institutes and consumers, to jointly research, introduce, digest, absorb and re-innovate key technologies and equipments. Strengthen industrialization demonstration of technology and equipment: Carry out industrialization demonstration of key technologies and equipments of industrial demonstration projects, including high-value use, industry chain extension, connection with related industries and ‘zero emission’. Quicken the popularization and application of advanced and applicable technologies: Enhance the establishment of technology promotion system. Set up technology selection, evaluation and promotion mechanism. Conduct popularization and application of advanced and applicable technologies via government buyout. And enforce ‘Go-out’ and ‘Come-in’ strategies, to accelerate the export of competitive key technologies and equipments.



Streamline administration and delegate powers to lower levels for raw material import: Import examination and approval are delegated to provinces or municipalities with independent planning status, or industrial clusters with comprehensive utilization, to facilitate customs clearance, inspection and quarantine. And streamlining administration can boost the transformation of government functions while reduce power rent-seeking. The issue of approvals should be improved. Via the cooperation with the association, related approvals should only be available for enterprises with advanced environmentally protective facilities and actual production at or above 30 kt/yr, while will lessen year by year for the rest until no availability. Increase propaganda: Organize and develop various propaganda and training activities, and popularize knowledge concerning recycling by means of radio, television, newspaper, magazine, internet, wechat, mobile and so on, with the publicity of typical cases and experience. Unify product standards: Materials for bottle cap include PE and PP, and for tag, PE, PS, PVC and paper; the bonding forms of tags cover full gluing, half gluing and thermal contraction; and the viscosities of different PET bottles are also diverged. The disunity of various materials leads to low efficiency, higher cost and harm to environment of recycling. Unifying materials is also required for waste textiles, as the treatment following recycling is extremely difficult, in line with the development of complex functions of basic fibers and the fashion of multicolor of textiles, and also because of various materials for auxiliary materials. Setup of waste textile recycling projects: Classify waste apparels, home textiles and industrial products into recyclable products. Establish and perfect top-level design of waste textile recycling industry chain, and highly integrate the current small-sized, scattered, low-level and disordered waste textiles recycling enterprises, to set up social sharing platform, so as to carry on the fiber processing following waste textiles recycling to form a complete industry chain.

Conclusion

In the face of new challenges and opportunities during the 13th ‘Five-Year’ Plan period, we should lead the overall development of the industry on the basis of scientific development perspective, and deeply implement the spirits of the 18th CPC National Congress and the 3rd Plenary Session, to put efforts into the improvement of independent innovation capability, impel the harmonious development of the industry chain and promote the sustainable development of the industry, so as to strengthen standardization and brand building, and comprehensively advance the overall international competitiveness of China’s recycled chemical fiber industry, with quickening the pace to change the development way of recycled chemical fiber industry as the top priority, the optimization and upgrade of industrial structure as the major task, and fulfilling market demand as the orientation.

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The 13th ‘Five-Year’ Plan for Recycled Chemical Fiber Industry...viscose fibers after pulping...

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