Indeed, our overall understanding of plastic lags behind the impact it brings, and recognizing this impact itself is also a phased process. As early as 1907, American ecologists pointed out in their research the unusual "transparent debris" in the inner lake water system, which later researchers believed to be the earliest record of plastic pollution in water bodies (Williams and Rangel Buitrago, 2022). In the early 1970s, biologists and marine ecologists began to pay attention to the positive and negative impacts of this "new material" on the environment, and attempted to figure out how this happened; By the 1990s, the scientific community had basically reached a consensus on plastic pollution, with the main research focus shifting towards how to measure the degree and scope of plastic pollution, how to track the sources of plastic pollution, and finding alternative solutions to plastic. The landmark turning point occurred in 2004, when Thompson et al. from Plymouth University in the UK published a paper in the journal Science on plastic debris in marine water bodies and sediments, first introducing the concept of "microplastics" (Thompson, 2004). The attention of academia and the public towards marine microplastics and general plastic pollution is constantly increasing; By 2012, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development required member states to achieve the goal of "significantly reducing marine litter" by 2025. This is the first time that the issue of plastic pollution has risen to the level of global sustainability and international environmental governance.

It is well known that plastic products can be recycled. However, the process of plastic recycling is not as simple as many people might think. On one hand, the difficulty of recycling varies with different types of plastics. Without precise recycling facilities and technology, many areas can only recycle plastics like mineral water bottles and boxed beverages, while the plastics used in products like yogurt cups, plastic cutlery, and coffee pods will ultimately be incinerated or landfilled due to a "lack of recycling capacity." On the other hand, the heating process shortens the polymer chains, thereby reducing the quality of the plastic. Therefore, even if a plastic water bottle can be effectively recycled, it cannot simply be "reborn" as another plastic water bottle. The vast majority of plastic products will be "downcycled," becoming products of lower quality than their original form.

Advanced recycling technologies are evolving at a rapid pace, with new players emerging in the market, ranging from start-ups to large corporations - new plants are being built, new capacities are being realised and new partnerships are being established. As a result of these developments, keeping track of all the information has become exceptionally difficult. in July 2024, nova-Institute published a report titled 'Advanced Plastic Waste Recycling Technologies and Global Capacity Distribution', which aims to sort out all the information available on this industry and provide a structured, in-depth overview and insights. The report focuses on a detailed analysis of existing advanced recycling technologies and their providers, while new technologies and updated information have been added. In addition, for the first time, a comprehensive assessment of global input and output capacity is provided, covering more than 340 planned, installed and operating plants, as well as their product-specific volumes.

On September 30, 2024, KITECH held a grand celebration for its six-year anniversary at the factory, aimed at enriching employees' cultural lives and enhancing team collaboration spirit. The event, themed "Unity and Cooperation, Vibrant Flourishing," attracted enthusiastic participation from all employees.

At present, innovation in recycling technology is constantly developing to solve the global problem of plastic waste. However, there is always a problem, which is the limited availability of high-quality and recyclable raw materials. As the chemical industry attempts to deal with plastic waste, pollution has become a concern, such as materials with coatings or films, or materials that have been painted, printed, or colored. Due to the inability of traditional recycling techniques to handle highly polluted raw materials, most of these materials are discarded into landfills or incinerated.

On 28th June 2024, the European Commission officially published the Eco-design for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), which will come into force on 18th July 2024 and will replace the existing Eco-design Directive (2009/125/EC). ESPR will replace the existing Eco-design Directive (2009/125/EC) and become an important tool to promote the EU's circular economy, aiming to make sustainable products the norm in the market. By 2027, the requirements of the regulation will be mandatory for products sold in the EU, including goods produced outside the EU.

As one of the top ten countries in the world that produce and consume plastic products, China's aquatic ecosystem is severely affected by microplastics. Currently, microplastics are widely detected in oceans, freshwater, and wastewater treatment plants. Among them, the main types of microplastics include polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET).marine environment.

In the past 20 years, scientists have significantly increased the amount of microbial genomes collected from the ocean, which can help address major challenges such as antibiotic shortages, plastic pollution solutions, and genome editing. However, it has always been difficult to apply microbial genome information to biotechnology and medicine.

Considering the climate crisis and global plastic pollution, many people believe that recycling materials, especially plastics, is the solution to plastic pollution. Recycling can reduce resource usage, prevent waste, and decrease carbon dioxide emissions. It is an important foundation of circular economy. The recycling of some materials is relatively simple, but the recycling of plastics involves complex target conflicts.

The universally recognised recycling symbol can be found on plastic products in many countries--three chasing arrows that go round and round, chasing each other. But not all plastic products with this symbol can be easily recycled. In fact, despite the fact that plastic recycling technology has been around for decades, most of today's plastic waste, still ends up in landfills.

As consumers demand for packaging convenience and food safety continues to grow, many tea beverage brands in the market are choosing to add oxygen absorbers to PET bottles to extend the shelf life of their products and improve oxygen barrier properties. However, this additive becomes a major challenge during the recycling process. The presence of oxygen absorbers makes the bottles prone to yellowing when dried at high temperatures, which not only affects the quality of the recycled material, but may also lead to downgrading of the whole batch of recycled material.

In many countries, widely recognized recycling logos can be found on plastic products - three chasing arrows that constantly cycle and chase each other. But not all plastic products with this symbol can be easily recycled. In fact, although plastic recycling technology has existed for decades, most of today's plastic waste still ends up in landfills.