Environmental protection cable market yet to be developed

Since the beginning of the new century, the issue of environmental protection has become increasingly prominent and has attracted more attention from all over the world. Today's individuals, companies, organizations, countries, and even the world are actively exploring ways to protect the environment. Related laws have also been formulated and announced. As a special commodity related to all aspects of our lives, wire and cable have focused on the production of environment-friendly green cable products as early as a few years ago. After market practice, green cables are popular among users and have even been listed as the most important by the majority of procurement organizations. factor. If cable manufacturers can pay attention to early, early investment, early research and development, firmly occupy the domestic green cable market, no doubt unnecessarily for the future development.

Today, green cables cover reasonable expectations, and have a circular economy model that is non-toxic to humans and the environment (low toxicity), pollution-free, high safety and reliability, long service life, and easy to split and recycle. Other characteristics. Before focusing on the development of green environmental protection cables, traditional cables are basically processed and used in various chemical raw materials under high temperature conditions, and the entire product life cycle will have a negative impact on the environment, and many cables are quite serious sources of pollution. During the manufacturing process, use, and disposal, a large amount of dioxins, heavy metals, and halogens that are harmful to the environment are produced. PVC cable material contains ammonia. Although it is flame-retardant, it will produce toxic gases such as hydrogen chloride and hydrogen halide once it is burned. At the same time, it will produce large amounts of smoke, which will endanger human safety and endanger fire protection. Cable scrap is difficult to handle, buried in the ground, lead stabilizers spread in the ground to lurk, causing environmental hazards, ecological damage, when burned PVC materials, prone to dioxins and other carcinogens Mi Man spread.

It is understood that the cable manufacturing industry in the world produces 5 million tons of waste each year in the production process. Also, 10% of long-term stored cable products become waste, which not only pollutes the environment but also wastes natural resources. At present, among the cable materials, the reutilization rate of copper and aluminum is more than 95%, while the reuse rate of polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene is only 3%.

At present, some professional organizations, both in China and in the world, are actively formulating relevant standards, including the formulation of GB/1648.9-1996 "Environmental Protection Control Standards for Imported Waste - Waste Cables", which strictly requires lead and The waste of the compound must not exceed one ten-thousandth of the weight of imported waste wires. In order to encourage and require cable companies to produce green cable. For example, China’s relevant laws and regulations explicitly require that important buildings prohibit the use of PVC wires and cables. Halogen-free and low-smoke cross-linked polyolefin insulated wires and cables must be used to avoid heavy smoke and chlorine at the time of fire, causing casualties.

And in major construction, it is also mandatory to use environmentally friendly cables. For example, the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 all use environmentally friendly materials, of course, also include environmentally friendly cables. During the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, all pavilions also used environmentally friendly materials. In addition, as early as October 2002, the Shanghai Construction Commission stipulated that non-environmental cables such as PVC should not be used in large buildings or public places. Civil buildings that specifically require buildings with a height of more than 100 meters must use low-smoke, halogen-free Class A flame retardant wire and cable. High-rise buildings with a height of more than 100 meters and civilian civil buildings with a size of less than 100 meters, such as a certain scale of hospitals, public entertainment venues, underground shopping malls, libraries, stations, supermarkets, terminal buildings, office buildings, etc. shall be used at least. Smokeless low-halogen and flame-retardant cables.

In foreign markets, more emphasis is placed on the use of green cables. For example, the European Union has also issued a mandatory directive - "Regulations on Restrictions on the Use of Certain Harmful Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment" (ROHS Directive). This standard applies to lead, mercury, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium in electric and electronic products. , PBBs and PBDEs were limited by a total of 6 substances. Although the ROHS directive is mandatory, it is far from being strict. In 2007, the EU's REACH directive could be said to be daunting.

In order to meet the requirements of REACH, Chinese enterprises have spent a huge amount of REACH registration fees and increasing SVHC testing fees, which has caused many companies to have psychological fears of REACH regulations and even to withdraw from the EU market. Compared with RoHS, the REACH directive covers a wider range of industries, from the mining industry to textiles and garments, light industry, electromechanical and other products and manufacturing processes in almost all industries. The REACH Directive imposes very strict restrictions on the use of chemicals that are harmful to the human body and the environment. It requires that any SVHC with an annual usage of more than 1 ton should not exceed 0.1% of the total weight of the total goods.

On December 19, 2011, the list of authorized candidate substances for the REACH regulation has been increased to 73 items. As of April 2013, the list of substances of very high concern (SVHC) has 144 hazardous chemicals such as cadmium, cadmium oxide, di-n-pentyl phthalate, lead tetrafluoroborate, and lead zirconium titanate. It is easy to see that the list of REACH regulatory concerns is increasing.

At present, the representative green and environment-friendly cables at home and abroad mainly include flame-retardant cables and fire-resistant cables, among which high-end products such as low-smoke halogen-free wire and cable and irradiation cables are increasing in usage. Low-smoke halogen-free cables are mainly used in rail transit, hospitals, schools and other social sites. Its benefits are very obvious. The use of new special materials that do not pollute the environment will not produce toxic gases during the production or use process. There will be very little acid gas and there will be obvious environmental protection effects. Currently, rail transit, hospitals, and high-rise commercial buildings in major cities such as Shanghai and Beijing have long been used as low-smoke halogen-free cables. The use of low-smoke halogen-free cable can be smoke-free and halogen-free after the accident to avoid generating a lot of smoke and chlorine when the fire occurs, and it will not cause fatal harm to the human body. The use of halogen-free low-smoke cross-linked polyolefin insulated wire and cable It can continue to maintain electricity during the accident, reduce the damage to the equipment and ensure that personnel can quickly withdraw from the scene of the accident.

With the growing demand for environmentally friendly cables in the international market, on July 1 last year, the European Union implemented two laws, the “Prohibition on the Use of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment” and the “Electronic Waste Equipment Directive”. It is both a "green barrier" and an opportunity. For example, Japan is at the forefront of developing countries in developing green cables. In 2001, environmental protection cables accounted for 10% of the domestic market and reached 50% in 2006. Although the development and application of domestic environmental protection cables have also received the attention of cable manufacturers, as early as September 2003, they formally proposed a green strategy for sustainable development, but compared to Japan and other developed cable countries. It said that China is still at a disadvantage in terms of competition.

In any case, the development and large-scale adoption of green cables has become an international trend. Only by producing cable products that meet market demands and comply with the development of the times can we effectively increase the competitiveness of cable manufacturers and win market injections. Power. The market prospect of green and environmental-friendly cables is very broad, and environmental protection issues are undoubtedly the trend of the times. With the increasing attention of countries to environmental protection issues, environmentally friendly cables will have bright prospects.