Yan Dongyu/Video

PE plastic film is the main packaging method for cigarette distribution by the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Tobacco Monopoly Bureau (Company). The plastic film packaging machine wraps everything, the delivery person carries it and the retail customer takes it apart, saving time and effort in the delivery process.

Before 2022, after retail customers received cigarettes packaged in plastic films, they would take a look at them, then dismantle them, and then throw the plastic films into unsorted trash cans, becoming "white garbage."

In recent years, the Guangxi District Bureau (Company) has coordinated the green development of enterprises and decided to use plastic film recycling as the entry point to fully implement the low-carbon development strategy. Starting from 2022, they will work hard to explore other uses for plastic film.

Packaging plastic film is relatively clean and has high purity, making it a hot commodity in the recycling market. The recycled plastic film can be made into PE granules for the regeneration of plastic products through processes such as crushing and thermoplasticization, allowing the waste film to rejuvenate New life.

Delivery personnel compress the recycled plastic films into bundles for temporary storage. Photo by Chen Meiying

In 2022, the Guangxi District Bureau (Company) will pilot plastic film recycling in Qinzhou and Beihai; in 2023, plastic film recycling will be fully promoted in 14 cities in the region.

At first, retail customers didn't understand why tobacco companies started "collecting garbage." Delivery workers often could only receive plastic films from one or two retail stores on a street.

As green concepts are promoted door-to-door and promotional videos are produced, retail customers are becoming more and more aware of green environmental protection. They will even collect the plastic films used to package beer and drinks in stores and hand them over to cigarette delivery personnel. From retail customers not understanding and supporting, to being willing to give it a try and cooperating with recycling, to participating in publicity and actively collecting, plastic film has gradually become a "treasure".

The compressed plastic films in bundles are temporarily stored for processing by recyclers. Photo by Liang Yong

Thanks to the extensive participation and active cooperation of retail customers, the waste plastic film from cigarette packaging was able to go home smoothly, and the green results far exceeded expectations.

From May to December 2022, the cumulative recycling of plastic films in Qinzhou and Beihai was 18.1 tons and 9.3 tons respectively. In 2023, nearly 220,000 retail customers in the region participated in plastic film recycling activities, recycling 400.18 tons of plastic film. The participation rate of retail customers in the region was 97.19%, and the plastic film recycling rate was 96.1%.

The Guangxi District Bureau (Company) strictly regulates the use of funds obtained from plastic film recycling, and uses all the income from plastic film recycling to help needy retail customers, help needy students, volunteer tree planting and other public welfare undertakings. Since the launch of the activity, the Qinzhou Municipal Bureau (Company) has assisted 7 households with retail customers in difficulty, helped 2 needy students, cared for 40 elderly people living alone, and visited the needy people twice in the community; the Beihai Municipal Bureau (Company) has used plastic film recycling funds for Build a "Golden Leaf Mangrove" and plant 480 "little expert" mangrove trees for carbon sequestration and carbon reduction, covering an area of ​​0.6 acres.