Our reporter Ma Jing
Classified trash cans are sold out of stock, and the platform for collecting garbage on the Internet appears quietly … … Recently, the "new fashion" of garbage sorting pioneered by Shanghai has swept the network and become a hot topic among the whole people. At present, 46 cities such as Beijing have become the first batch of pilot cities for garbage sorting, and garbage sorting will soon become the daily life of more people. The reporter’s investigation found that as the most valuable "garbage", the recycling of renewable resources is still difficult. On the one hand, the number of scavengers is decreasing, and on the other hand, the standardized Internet recycling platform is unsustainable. If compulsory classification is implemented, can the recycling of renewable resources usher in a turning point?
Low-efficiency intelligent recycling machine
Ms. Xie, who lives in Changying, recently cleaned up a lot of old clothes and old books and periodicals. According to her past habits, she would throw them directly into the trash can in the community. However, seeing that the whole people are discussing garbage classification, she decided to adopt a standardized recycling method. Remembering that there was a row of intelligent recycling machines near her home, Ms. Xie went to experience it, but she didn’t expect the machines to work normally.
The reporter found this intelligent recycling machine ranked as "Little Yellow Dog" in Huiwanhong Community. There are 7 boxes side by side at the scene, which are put into different categories such as metal, plastic, textiles and beverage bottles. However, plastics, textiles and paper all show "full", and the category of beverage bottles shows "failure". Only glass and metal boxes can be used. Select the glass category, and then scan the QR code with WeChat, and the delivery port will automatically open. However, in addition to a small number of glass bottles, there are also plastic bottles and cans, which did not achieve the purpose of classified delivery.
The reporter randomly inquired about the status of machines in different locations on the Little Yellow Dog APP, and most machines could not be used normally. For example, the machines located in the second district of Fangxingyuan can only be put in glass category, and the machines located in Guanshuyuan Community can only be put in metal and glass category. APP shows that in addition to offline scanning code delivery, you can also make an appointment for home recycling, but you can’t place an order. The customer service said that the door-to-door recycling is currently being upgraded.
In fact, after the Spring Festival this year, the "little yellow dogs" in many cities have stopped. In May, Xiaohuanggou Company said at the Weibo that after a short outage, some cities resumed operations one after another. However, from the current situation, the actual effect after the resumption of operation is greatly reduced.
Last year, Little Yellow Dog entered many provinces and cities including Beijing, and became a star enterprise in the field of recycling renewable resources. By the beginning of this year, more than 10,000 sets of equipment had been laid. However, the rapid expansion has also put forward a test for operating costs. It is understood that affected by funds, "Little Yellow Dog" has now entered the process of bankruptcy and reorganization.
High cost, Internet recycling is difficult to sustain.
The decline of the little yellow dog is not a case. In recent years, many companies have been aiming at the recycling business of renewable resources, and have tried to provide recycling services through "internet plus", but most platforms are losing money and earning money, and few can continue to operate.
Ms. Liu, a resident of Huishi Xinyuan Community, recently received a notice of business adjustment from "Helping Home". The information showed that her community suspended the door-to-door recycling business. Helping Home, which started in 2014, is a door-to-door recycling O2O platform under Yingchuang Recycling. After individual recyclers enter the platform, they provide door-to-door recycling services by taking orders. The reporter learned from the help home that as early as two years ago, the platform was no longer promoted after the help home, but the server did not stop running, and the waste recyclers could still take orders on the platform, but if the waste recyclers quit the platform, the residents of the corresponding community could no longer enjoy the service.
"The O2O model was very popular in 2014. We also wanted to try to provide door-to-door recycling services through this model, but after two years of operation, we found that we could not find a profit point." Chang Tao, the person in charge of helping home, said that at present, helping home has achieved transformation, mainly providing a resource recycling technology platform for local governments.
Some startups have also tried to build their own recycling teams. Re-life, which started in Beijing in 2014, is the first enterprise with Internet recycling qualification in China, and has recruited a group of young "recycling brothers" who drive unified electric tricycles to collect waste products in communities, covering more than 1,000 communities in Beijing at most. However, in 2017, Re-life closed down due to the break of the capital chain. The founder of Re-life once said that the average door-to-door cost of the community errand service is from 6 yuan to 7 yuan, but it is difficult for users to accept it if the waste is recycled and the door-to-door fee is charged.
Forced classification of large markets to be activated
Since the Internet platform cannot achieve a perfect "marriage" with renewable resources, can it return to the original and rely on flexible individual recyclers for recycling? The reporter visited and found that it is very rare for waste recyclers who used to walk the streets.
Master Song, a recycler who has been stationed in Chaoyang District for many years, said that at present, most of them are cleaning staff in the community or elderly people who are used to picking up garbage to deliver goods. They pick out valuable waste from the garbage bins and then pack them and send them to the recycling station. Mr. Chen, who has worked in the recycling field of renewable resources in Beijing for ten years, said that compared with many years ago, at least half of the waste recyclers in Beijing have withdrawn from this industry, and some renewable resources will be shared by other recyclers, but overall, the recycling volume is still reduced by 30% to 40%. These scavengers prefer high-value waste products, and it is difficult for low-value recyclables such as take-away lunch boxes and Tetra Pak boxes of milk to enter the recycling channels.
Compulsory garbage sorting is expected to change this embarrassing situation. According to the plan of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, by the end of 2020, 46 key cities that have been piloted first will basically build garbage sorting and treatment systems. This also requires all pilot cities to increase investment in recycling renewable resources, so that more valuable "garbage" can be disposed of in an environmentally friendly way instead of simply burning it.
With the mandatory classification of garbage, the Internet recycling platform that once struggled to survive may usher in the second spring. It is understood that considering the changes in the environment of garbage sorting, Yingchuang is planning a plan to help home restore services, and continues to explore ways to promote the reduction of garbage sources.