The Customs authorities in China have shown how its Green Fence policy has benefitted Chinese companies.
A case study on its website shows that the paper industry in the city of Fuyang has benefitted from RMB70 million (£7 million) in additional revenue as a result of having to deal with less contamination in the first 10 months of 2013. This data comes from the Fuyang Paper Association that estimates that paper making companies in the region saved RMB40 to RMB65 per tonne of imported waste paper due to lower moisture content and less quantity of foreign substances.
The case study noted that the Zhejiang Zhengda Holding Group Co imports 450,000 tonnes per year and is therefore the biggest paper imported in Fuyang.
Before the company would use 1.05 to 1.07 tonnes of raw materials including waste paper, chemicals and other auxiliary items to produce one tonne of paper. However, as a result of less contamination it has been able to reduce this by 0.02 and 0.04 tonnes per unit.
A customs official called Wang is quoted. He said: “There are less plastic films and pop cans hidden in the waste paper now, and the moisture content is lower.
“The foreign suppliers realise now we will say ‘no’ to those waste paper cubes (bales) whose classification is confusing, and we will no longer accept those which contain foreign substances.”
In 2013, customs officials in China took part in the Green Fence initiative. By the end of November, Hangzhou Customs District had exercised control over 6.54 million tonnes of solid wastes and seized 3,508 tonnes of prohibited material.
Indeed, prior to this case study being published, Chinese Customs announced that it has seized 2,000 tonnes of waste plastic in Huangpu Customs District.
This was the biggest solid waste trafficking case that the Customs administration had caught since Green Fence was introduced.
A company in Dongguan City has been identified as a smuggler with 2,000 tonnes of waste PET bottles illegally stored in its yard.
The pictures below show the waste from this smuggler being identified by Customs officials.
