Old leaf waste cloth heads' turn waste into treasure 'Ningbo enterprises cleverly use solid waste resources to leverage the global high-end market

Officials from Cixi Customs, a subsidiary of Ningbo Customs, conducted on-site research at a recycled material export company. Shi Xiaoxuan/Photo

Authors: Ma Xinying, Chen Zheyin
　　   
Recently, in the factory area of Ningbo Helong New Materials Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Helong Company"), trucks are queuing up to load goods, preparing to transport batches of outdoor flooring to the Australian market. These floors look no different from high-end solid wood, but the raw materials come from waste wind turbine blades - this is the green innovation achievement of Helong Company.
Entering the production workshop of Helong Company, various production lines operate in an orderly manner, including crushing, modification, extrusion, and molding. By utilizing self-developed modified composite technology, enterprises can recycle and reuse discarded wind turbine blades. This not only solves the problems of difficult disassembly, degradation, and high disposal costs of wind turbine blades, but also enables product performance to surpass traditional wood plastic materials, making it more suitable for scenarios such as sea view houses and high-end residences that require high material corrosion resistance.
Our newly developed composite flooring has significantly improved rigidity and weather resistance, with a product lifespan of up to 25 years. By turning industrial solid waste into high-end building materials that meet international standards, we not only maintain our green bottom line but also expand our overseas market, "said Ma Qingjiang, Chairman of Helong Company." Currently, our company focuses on the high-end foreign market, and our products are mainly exported to countries and regions such as Australia, Europe, and the United States. In the first five months of this year, our exports exceeded 100 million yuan. "With this green technology, the company's incubated independent brand successfully landed at the Milan International Furniture Fair in April, helping" Made in China "green building materials gradually establish a foothold in the international high-end market.
In the Cixi Binhai Economic Development Zone, a "resource revolution" about textile waste is also unfolding simultaneously. In the production workshop of Ningbo Yimu Yisen New Materials Co., Ltd., piles of waste fabrics are sorted, crushed, and mixed with safe and formaldehyde free MDI adhesive, and then hot pressed into dense and flat regenerated fiberboard at high temperature.
There are a large number of clothing and fabric production enterprises in the Ningbo region, but the utilization rate of waste spinning has always been low. We have developed the 'waste spinning instead of wood' technology and built the first automated production line for waste spinning fiber recycled board in China. We harmless reprocess blended waste to produce waterproof, corrosion-resistant, formaldehyde free and environmentally friendly imitation wood boards. "Zhang Xinyu, General Manager of Yimu Yisen New Materials Co., Ltd., introduced," Waste spinning recycling adopts a fully physical method, with no carbon or exhaust emissions throughout the process, which not only reduces raw material costs, but also conforms to the international low-carbon trend. Last year, we successfully opened up the Dutch market, and this year we expect orders to further increase
In recent years, guided by the "dual carbon" goal, Ningbo enterprises have opened up the path of solid waste resource utilization through technological innovation, exploring a complete industrial chain of "waste recycling resource regeneration high value-added product manufacturing global sales". Cixi Customs accurately matches the development needs of enterprises, implements the "one enterprise, one policy" assistance mechanism, promotes international green rules such as EU REACH regulations and carbon footprint accounting, answers difficult questions encountered in product classification and customs inspection, and helps enterprises break down green trade barriers and go global in compliance and stability. At present, Cixi City has established 385 three-star and above green factories. In response to these green factories, the customs will continue to optimize and assist enterprises, focus on the pain points and difficulties encountered in enterprise exports, strengthen technical and trade measures to respond to guidance and policy empowerment, and escort more green and low-carbon products to set sail overseas, "said the relevant person in charge of Cixi Customs.