Why disposable chopsticks are difficult to recycle (Source: Bestchopsticks.com)

Chopsticks are a very popular dining tool in Asian countries. With the development of the economy, disposable chopsticks are an indispensable item in every restaurant in fast-paced daily life. Disposable chopsticks have the characteristics of being clean, fast and cheap, but the waste of resources and environmental pollution caused by disposable chopsticks is also a major problem.

In the eyes of ordinary people, it seems that there is a fast-growing forest, and the disposable bamboo chopsticks manufacturing industry that requires a lot of wood will not cause damage to natural forest resources. However, forestry experts have different opinions.

First of all, the fast-growing forest does not grow as fast as people think. More importantly, the fast-growing forest is more harmful to the environment and to the land. Most of the fast-growing forests in the industry are unified, fail to achieve the ecological benefits of biodiversity, and cannot form a balanced ecological chain, so it is prone to pests and diseases. Only the consumption of land resources is not cultivated, coupled with the birth of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and pesticides, and the rapid depletion of land.

There have been media suggestions to recycle these chopsticks into pulp for papermaking. Regarding the feasibility of this program, we can say with certainty that there is no problem. But why do so many people try, but end up with failure? The reporter asked several paper mills that basically did not use recycled disposable chopsticks to make pulp. When it comes to the reasons, several papers have talked about their respective difficulties.

The first is the turnover of old chopsticks. If the recycled chopsticks cannot be quickly turned around and used for production, they will quickly proliferate bacteria, spread germs, and even form pests. Although China chopsticks manufacturers produces tens of billions of pairs of disposable chopsticks every year, it is based on the statistics of China’s population base, and a large part of it is exported to other countries. The consumption in small areas is not enough to form batch processing. Scale; the chopsticks in a large area are concentrated in a unified treatment in a short period of time, and the logistics cost is too high. This is also the main obstacle to the recycling of used disposable chopsticks.

In addition, disposable chopsticks are stained with oil or even infectious bacteria, and the washing of wooden chopsticks becomes a big problem.The treatment of washing water is the highlight. Most of the cheap detergents contain phosphorus, and other chemical components that are rejected by water. If they are not treated properly, they can be directly discharged into rivers or infiltrated into the soil, causing pollution of water or soil. It is easy to cause secondary pollution. The meaning of chopsticks recycling is not worth the loss. Choosing an advanced sewage treatment system for washing sewage treatment will cost more than double, and the recycler will have no profit. This is the main reason why many people try and fail.

Most of the restaurant’s disposable chopsticks are poured into the bucket with the food. Therefore, disposable chopsticks are not recycled in the present, and become a true “once”.

By Bestchopsticks.com (Mingzhu Houseware)

About Fuzhou Mingzhu Houseware Co., Ltd

China chopsticks manufacturer & factory. Quality First, Service First , export Bamboo chopsticks, Wooden Chopsticks Gift Set , Japanese Chopsticks,Chinese Chopsticks,Craft Chopsticks … at Bestchopsticks.com. Learn how to use chopsticks, their history, how they’re made.