Three ministries and commissions have issued regulations, providing a legal basis for the cleaner production evaluation of recycled rubber.

On January 19th, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology jointly issued the "Evaluation Index System for Cleaner Production in the Recycled Rubber Industry" (No. 1983 [2020] of the Regulation on Circular Economy and Resources Conservation by the National Development and Reform Commission), which came into effect on April 1st, 2021, aiming to guide and promote recycled rubber enterprises to implement cleaner production in accordance with the law.

The original intention of the three ministries and commissions in jointly introducing this "Evaluation Index System" is to implement the "Environmental Protection Law" and the "Cleaner Production Promotion Law", guide and promote recycled rubber production enterprises to implement cleaner production in accordance with the law, improve resource utilization efficiency, reduce and avoid the generation of pollutants, and protect and improve the environment.

This regulation divides the evaluation indicators into six categories, namely production process and equipment indicators, resource and energy consumption indicators, resource comprehensive utilization indicators, pollutant generation indicators, product characteristic indicators, and cleaner production management indicators.

Based on the comprehensive score of the indicator evaluation, the cleaner production levels are divided into three grades: international leading, domestic advanced, and domestic general.

This regulation points out that this indicator system is not static. It will be revised in a timely manner with the continuous progress and development of technology.

The main drafter of this "Evaluation Index System" is the China Rubber Industry Association, which completed it jointly with the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, the Rubber and Recycled Products Quality Supervision and Inspection Center of the Petroleum and Chemical Industry, and eight recycled rubber enterprises. It consists of six chapters, including scope of application, normative reference documents, terms and definitions, evaluation index system, evaluation methods, indicator explanations, and data sources.

This indicator system is applicable to the cleaner production audits, judgment of potential and opportunities, performance assessment, and performance announcement system of recycled rubber production enterprises (production lines). It is also applicable to environmental management systems such as project environmental impact assessment, pollutant discharge permit, and evaluation of environmental protection pacesetters.

"The introduction of this 'Evaluation Index System' will provide clear standards and specifications for the project construction, cleaner production, and transformation and upgrading of recycled rubber enterprises." Qi Xuezhi, Secretary - General of the Waste Rubber Comprehensive Utilization Branch of the China Rubber Industry Association, said that this will change the development landscape of the recycled rubber industry, achieving cleaner production and green and circular utilization. It has practical significance for establishing the cleaner production image of the recycled rubber industry and realizing the long - term and healthy development of the industry.