Zhu Meifang, Academician Of Chinese Academy Of Sciences: Attention Should Be Paid To The Recycling Of Petrochemical Products

The picture shows Zhu Meifang, academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences. Photo by Wang Yu

"I believe that everyone should have such a consciousness and attach importance to the recycling and reuse of petrochemical products from all aspects, including consumption." Zhu Meifang, academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, member of Twas and director of School of materials science and engineering of Donghua University, attended the 2021 China ASEAN forum on international cooperation in petroleum and chemical industry, This is what the reporter said in an exclusive interview.

It is China's solemn commitment to the world to strive to achieve carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. In Zhu Meifang's view, under the "double carbon" goal, both from the government departments and from the perspective of various industry associations and enterprises, China attaches great importance to the green development of the petrochemical industry Scientific research institutions also focus on the green development of the industry. Zhu Meifang said that the recycling of petrochemical products will effectively solve the problem of shortage of petrochemical resources and waste discharge of petrochemical products in some regions.

Zhu Meifang introduced that the recycling of chemical fibers and textiles can be divided into two categories: physical methods and chemical methods. Physical method is through washing or direct circulation, while chemical method is to decompose macromolecules into small molecules through reaction, and then reprocess small molecules into macromolecules. In Zhu Meifang's opinion, the recycling process seems simple, but the government's supporting recycling policies, enterprises' investment in recycling industry and scientific research institutions' theoretical research on the scientific recycling of products are indispensable.

In order to improve the recycling efficiency of petrochemical products and save the cost of recycling, Zhu Meifang suggested that in the source design of petrochemical products, the process of product use, circulation and recovery should be well planned, and the "molecules convenient for recycling" should be "buried" into the products in advance, and the recycling process should be designed to facilitate the reuse of products in the later stage.

At the same time, Zhu Meifang also stressed that petrochemical products will consume resources in the process of recycling. Only by doing theoretical research and scientific recycling planning can we save petrochemical resources more efficiently.

(source: China News Network)