Where should I go to discard the pesticide packaging waste that pollutes the environment in the field at will？
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, August 2 nd Question: Where should we go to discard the pesticide packaging waste that pollutes the environment in the fields at will?
Xinhua News Agency reporters Gao Jing, Qian Lizhen and Wang Xiaolin.
Pesticide packaging waste is large and scattered, which becomes invisible pollution in the fields. Where should these packaging wastes go? How to reduce its impact on the environment? According to the reporter’s recent interview, despite the difficulties of recycling and disposal, some places have begun to explore effective methods for recycling and disposal of pesticide packaging waste.
Serious pollution, hundreds of millions of pesticide packaging waste was thrown in the fields.
This year’s rice planting season, nine agricultural stores in Menghe Town, Xinbei District, Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province have a new task: recycling the sold pesticide packaging.
A few days ago, the reporter saw in Nongfeng Agricultural Resources Management Department that two harmful waste recycling boxes, one gray and one yellow, were prominently placed in front of the store, which were used to recycle pesticide packaging bags and pesticide bottles.
Chao Yutang, the person in charge of the operation department, is receiving Zhang Yongfu, a big farmer. He said, "Although all the pesticides are low in toxicity and residue, you must not discard the packaging at will after using them. If the wind blows into rivers and wells, it will pollute the water source. The residual pesticides in the packaging bag seep into the ground with rainwater, which will also pollute the soil and destroy the groundwater quality. "
Zhang Yongfu nodded from time to time, saying that the packaging of this batch of pesticides must be taken to the store for recycling next time.
China is a big country in pesticide production and use. Shan Zhengjun, a researcher at Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said that the packaging capacity of pesticides in China is mostly between a few grams and several hundred grams. If one package per 100 grams of pesticide preparation is counted, the annual production of pesticide packages can reach 10 billion.
At present, the recovery rate of pesticide packaging waste in China is low, and recycling work is only carried out in Zhejiang, Shanghai and other places, and pilot work is carried out sporadically in other areas. More packaging waste is randomly discarded in the fields, which has become one of the outstanding problems in the agricultural environment.
Experts pointed out that pesticide packaging wastes are mostly made of glass, plastic and other materials, which are difficult to degrade in the natural environment and scattered in fields, roads, water bodies and other environments, causing serious "visual pollution". More seriously, pesticide residues in packaging waste will be released into the environment, especially in plastic and aluminum foil packaging. If it enters the soil and water environment, it will directly harm rural soil and water, affect agricultural production, and may enter drinking water sources, threatening residents’ health.
It is difficult to recycle and treat, which causes pesticide packaging waste to be discarded at will.
Where should hundreds of millions of pesticide packaging wastes go? To reduce the environmental pollution caused by it, it is undoubtedly necessary to recycle it. The Regulations on Pesticide Management issued by the State Council in 2017 requires that pesticide production enterprises and pesticide operators should recycle pesticide wastes to prevent pesticide pollution and pesticide poisoning accidents.
However, experts pointed out that the first step of collection is facing difficulties. China’s agriculture is mainly produced by one household, and the use of pesticides is large and scattered. Due to the lack of economic value of pesticide packaging waste, in the absence of encouraging policies, farmers’ enthusiasm for actively collecting and returning pesticide packaging after taking medicine is not high, resulting in packaging waste being randomly discarded in fields and ditches.
Shan Zhengjun further pointed out that even after unified collection, it still faces subsequent disposal problems. At present, pesticide packaging waste is treated as hazardous waste, and the disposal price is high, and in some places, one ton is as high as five or six thousand yuan; At the same time, it is difficult to find enterprises with hazardous waste disposal qualifications in some places, or the disposal capacity of hazardous waste disposal enterprises is limited, which makes it difficult to dispose of pesticide packaging waste on schedule after collection, but will affect the enthusiasm of recycling.
Whether it is recycling or disposal, it needs corresponding financial support. Shan Zhengjun said that at present, some places that carry out pilot recycling and disposal are mostly undertaken by financial funds, and the role of pesticide producers and operators has not been fully brought into play. Pesticide manufacturers at home and abroad have also made some attempts to recycle packaging waste, but the proportion is still low.
Three parties make concerted efforts to reduce the pollution of pesticide packaging waste
Starting this year, huadian city, Jilin Province has set up centralized recycling stations in 9 towns and 1 street, which are under the responsibility of agricultural stations. The pesticide packaging waste is recycled at the price of 0.2 yuan per bottle and 0.1 yuan per bag, and then treated harmlessly. The local government has invested more than 1.2 million yuan to recycle 65 tons of waste.
Liang Xijiang, director of huadian city Agriculture Bureau, said that the paid recycling system has greatly enhanced farmers’ awareness of environmental protection. In the past, pesticide bottles and bags that could be seen everywhere in farmland on both sides of the river were rare, and agricultural non-point source pollution was effectively curbed.
Shan Zhengjun introduced that there are three main modes of exploration in various places: government-led, enterprise-led, and project-led. However, the government may face the problem of great financial pressure, while enterprises may lack mandatory recycling requirements and bear more costs than enterprises that do not recycle, which may be difficult to sustain. He suggested establishing a recycling model with government leading, enterprise main body and public participation.
At the end of 2017, the former Ministry of Environmental Protection and the former Ministry of Agriculture jointly issued the Administrative Measures for the Recycling and Disposal of Pesticide Packaging Wastes (Draft for Comment). The exposure draft stipulates the recycling, storage, transportation and disposal of pesticide packaging waste, further clarifies the recycling obligations of pesticide producers and operators, and proposes to establish a recycling reward or user deposit return system to guide pesticide users to voluntarily return pesticide packaging waste.
According to industry insiders, this management method is expected to be introduced by the end of this year, and it is expected to classify high-toxic pesticides and low-toxic pesticides to reduce the pressure on hazardous waste disposal in various places.
Shan Zhengjun affirmed the local experience of adopting the recycling reward system, which will greatly promote the recycling of pesticide packaging waste. At the same time, he pointed out that the management measures should strengthen the supervision responsibilities of agricultural and environmental protection departments, implement the main responsibilities of pesticide producers and operators, and punish enterprises that fail to fulfill their recycling obligations according to laws and regulations.