JingSu: Creating value from plastic waste along the Yangtze

Value from Suzhou’s Food and Beverage Containers

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The explosion of food delivery in China and the corresponding growth of single-use plastic containers, cups and food trays has led to a massive increase in plastic waste in the country. The JingSu initiative takes on this issue, directing food and beverage container plastic waste towards collection points that have been set up around the city and in schools. In the process, the project helps to reduce the flow of plastic waste into the Yangtze River.

In the city of Suzhou, GIZ, Germany’s development cooperation organisation, is addressing this through an initiative that diverts these plastics to one of more than 300 newly-upgraded and installed collection points.

The initiative brings together local authorities, businesses, educational institutions, NGOs, and residents to implement a sustainable system for managing food and beverage container waste. This includes developing strategies and building capacity at city level to monitor, collect, sort, and recycle low-value plastic waste; raising awareness among residents; using data-driven tracking platforms to increase traceability and recyclability; and exploring innovative business models and processing solutions for low value plastics.

Working with local waste collector, Suzhou Urban Construction & Investment Development Co., Ltd (CTZS), JingSu has set up more than 197 drop-off points in three Suzhou districts. A further 101 collection points have been set up in the city’s primary and junior middle schools. Collection began in stages from June 2022. In 2023, the project partnered with office buildings, government offices, and commercial areas to receive plastic waste for recycling.

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By integrating a collection and sorting system for single use food and beverage containers into the city’s waste management, it also increases the scope of what is considered recyclable.

Plastic collected under the initiative is transported to the newly upgraded Baiyangwan sorting centre, which began operations in October 2022, with a capacity for processing around 60 tonnes of all recyclables a day, which are then baled and sold to recyclers. By December 2023, the centre was processing over 1,200 tonnes of Food and Beverage Containers a month — well beyond its target.

The project is also conducting a “Plastic-Free Childhood” programme that rewards school children for the quantity of food containers they have collected with stationery made from the recycled plastic.

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