Research on the Relationship between Cycling Economy and Sustainable Development

Research on the Relationship between Cycling Economy and
Sustainable Development*
ZHANG Ke
School of economics and management, Henan Polytechnic University, P.R.China, 454001
[email protected]
Abstract: The strategy of sustainable development is the actual choice to development of China, while
the cycling economy is the developing model of ecology economy. The article says from the background
of the actual economic development of China, and introduces the legal model of foreign developing
cycling economy. And then, the article talk about the concept and basic characters of cycling economy,
and puts forward the viewpoint that developing cycling economy is the inevitable choice of realizing the
economic sustainable development. Finally, the article makes a conclusion that developing cycling
economy is a systematic project and we must go on the road of sustainable development.
Keywords: Cycling Economy, Sustainable Development, Rules of “3R”
1 Introduction
The economy of China has got a great rapid and every construction has achieved big success,
while we also has paid big price of resources and environment, the contradiction between economic
development and resources and environment has been getting more and more sharp pointed since 1980s.
These problems have close relationship with that the efficiency of exploitation of Chinese resources is
relative low. For example, the consumption of unit product in the high consuming industries of China
such as steel, electric power and content is average 20% more or less higher than the world advanced
level; the total retrieved rate of mineral resources is 30%, which is more than 20% lower than foreign
advanced level; the total retrieved rate of mineral resources is 30%, which is more than 20% lower than
foreign advanced level; the multipurpose utilizing rate of wood is 60%, which is 20% lower than foreign
advanced level. The utilization of reproducing resources holds a certain status in total output, which is
much lower that foreign advanced level. Among these, the utilization of yearly abandoned steel takes a
less-than-20% proportion in the total output of coarse steel, while the foreign advanced level is 40%; the
reappearing utilization of productive water is 15%~20% lower than foreign advanced level. The
foregoing problems seriously limit the sustainable development of the economy of our country. We
should solve these problems by developing cycling economy or other ways. Under the background of
this, the 29th meeting of the tenth NPC Standing Committee makes the first examination of The Cycling
Economic Law of The People's of China which is put forward by the NPC Environment Committee. The
legislative purpose of establishing the cycling economic law is that through promoting the developing of
cycling economy, we can enhance the utilization rate of resources, protect and improve the environment
and realize the sustainable development.
The developed countries have about two kinds of legislative models in regulating cycling economy:
One is the model of preventing pollution, such as America and Canada who bring the clean production
into the legislative framework of preventing pollution, which belong to the law of environment. For
example, America has put the National Environmental Political Law into practice since 1970, who owns
the highest position in basic law; there also have Clean Water Law and Clean Air Law to match with it.
The other is the model of economic cycle. The forerunner is German, who published a series of laws
about protecting environment in 1970s. And they added the duty of protecting environment for later
generations in Basic Law in 1994, which formulated that “The country has the spirit of being
responsible for later generation to protect the survival condition of nature”. Then The Cycling Economy
and Dimwit Cleaned Law were published. The Protecting Law of Agriculture and Nature followed in
1998. Japan, who promoted the cycling economic law after German, has formed the most integral
*
This paper is one initial result of philosophy and social sciences planning project, Henan Province(No.2008CJJ020)
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cycling economic law system all over the word, which can say that indigo blue is extracted form the
indigo plant, but is bluer than plant it comes from.
2 Concept and basic characters of the cycling economy
2.1 Concept of cycling economy
The cycling economy is the economy of making the clean production and the multipurpose
utilization of waste into one system. Its essence is a kind of ecology economy. It requires the application
of ecology economy to direct the economic activities of humanity society. It also requires making the
economic activities into a “resources-production -reproducing resources” block flow path, which let all
the material and energy resources use reasonability in cycling and control the influence that the
economic activities act on nature on nature in smallest extent, thereby we can make the environment
develop in accordance with economic construction. In corporation with the model of traditional
extensive economy, the difference of cycling economy is that the traditional economy is a kind of
material one-direction circulating economy which is constituted by “resources-production discharged”.
Different from this, what the cycling economy initiating is a kind of economic developing model which
is bulking on the basement of material continuous cycling user. It requires making the economic
activities in compliance with the model of nature ecology system to organize a
“resources-production-reproducing resources” process of material repeatedly cycling circulation, with
make the whole economic system and processes of production and consuming product no or only little
waste in the main. Only have the wrong-place resources, never have the real waste. Its charters are low
investment and high utilization of natural resources and low discharging waste. Thereby we can solve
the sharp-pointed conflict between environment and development in basement since long time ago.
2.2 Basic characters of cycling economy
2.2.1 Diversity of participated elements
Developing cycling economy is a systematic project and requires the participation of every element.
The key elements of developing cycling economy include the following things. First is the ideological
factor. We should make the green, protected environment and saving become the basic consensus of all
society and spread and promote the environmental and resources ideology of governments, enterprises
and citizens. Second is the systematic factor. The cycling economy cannot form by itself, it need strong
measures from government, such as programmer guiding, legislative standardizing and political
controlling, to take as protection. Third is science and technology factor. The cycling economy is close
to the knowledge economy. It is the advancement of science and technology makes the self-generating
saving changing into the developing model of organization and scale become possible. The research and
utilization of new technology, such as save energy and reduce consumption, deal with the waste and
replace the energy resources, are all the essential conditions to promote realizing the cycling economy.
2.2.2 Distinctions of constituting segments
As the model of economic development, the organized structure of cycling economy exists
different distinction, and each distinction also has different special point, such as the saving consuming
of citizens, the clean production of enterprises, the “green” position of productive parks and the
harmonious development of cities, are all the indispensable constituting distinctions of cycling
economic developing model.
2.2.3 Unanimity of operative rules
No matter which organizing diction of cycling economy, the rules they obey are unanimity, which
is common saying “The Rules of 3R”. “Reduce” requires least investment of material and energy
resources to realize the planed aim of production and consumption; “Replace” is to use the production as
many as possible which can reduce the waste of once production;“the rules of 3R”, we can realize the
core ideology of cycling economy, which is “best production, most probably distribution and least
abandonment”.
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3 Developing the cycling economy is the inevitable choice of realizing the
sustainable development of economy
3.1 The cycling economy can promote the continuous utilization of resources
In order to receive the largest economic production, the human use the resources out of control,
which lead lots of non-renewable resources getting exhausted and the reproducing resources getting
retrogress since the industrialization if 20 century. In 2000, half of the word wet place was damaged; the
average quantity of fresh-water application is 30% lower than 25 years ago; the wilderness has already
influenced 100cunties nearly 100 million people; the forest resources was disappeared by a speed of
1600 hectares every year; the diversity of balsams has already lost 30% in the past 30 years; 113 of the
mammal, 118 of the seeds of plants and 1110 of the seeds of trees were becoming extinct. During the ten
years, the unusual climate and natural disaster are fourth higher as much as 50 years ago which makes
the economic loss ninth higher as much as 50 years ago, and the amount is as much as 62650 million.
The most important rule of developing cycling economy is reduction which is reducing the material
quantity of investing production and consumption; thereby we can reduce the introduction. We can do
many things on saving resources to speed up developing the cycling economy: From the level of
enterprises, the plastic waste and discharges which were posed by production was distinguish reduced
255 and 70% in cooperation which 1994; From the level of countries, the German introduced the clean
production lead them get successes both in economy and environment. Which is twice more than
increment of GDP; the main pollution had reduced nearly 75%. The total retrieval quantify of revival
resources developed countries countries of the world has got 2500 million each year, and go on at the
speed of 15%~20% every year. 45% output of steel, 62% output of cuprum, 40% output of aluminum,
30% output of zinc and 35% output of paper are from the retrieval utilization of revival resources all
over the world.
3.2 The cycling economy can prevent pollution and protect environment
When our human society exploit the resources plunder, we haven't taken the downside affection of
resources utilized into consideration. We only use the unscientific way of denotation which lead the
world ecology environmental downhill, such as hothouse affection, pollution of atmosphere and fresh
water and broaden the cavity of ozonosphere. The prevention of environmental pollution cannot leave
developing cycling economy. First, seeing from the fountainhead, developing cycling economy requires
to reduce the introduction of resources as for as possible which can relevantly reduce the production of
pollution in a clear and ordered pattern. Besides, we require recycle during the process of production
and service, and using the goods as many as possible or in many ways, and then we can avoid making
the goods into rubbish earlier. Finally, the rule of recycle is what we common say the retrieval utilization
and multipurpose utilization of waste which ia making the waste into resources and reducing the final
arrangement.[1]
3.3 Developing the cycling economy is an important way of building the resources-economical
society
Building the economical society need to quicken developing cycling economy. First, the cycling
economy can increase the utilization rate of resources and decrease the consumption of resources.
Resource is the material basement of human existence and development. If we want to develop, we must
consume the resources but the consumption of resources can’t overdraw out of order and control, we can
reduce the consumption of resources during the processes of production by the improvement of
technology which can let the consumption of resources and energy resources become more and more
lower and the disturbance intensity to ecology environment become more and more weaker, so it can
promote the economy of scale increase progressively. Second, the elongating of cycling economy
broadens the chain of production technologies and make the waste utilize cycle out of limit by
technological arrangement which can promote the reduction and resources of waste, reduce the
explosion of original resources and utilized the in revival resources in most limitless. Third, the cycling
utilization of resources increases the utilization rate of ecology environment. Due to the cycling
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economic development of many levels of enterprises and areas, different producing centerpieces form
the intergrowth and mutually complement of resources and the pollution can be solved in every
productive system as far as possible, which reduce the pollution discharging in the processes of
production, thereby make the clean production, the multipurpose utilization of resources and their waste,
ecology design and sustainable consumption into one system, which make the economic system into the
material cycling process of natural ecology system hormonally and realize the apologize of economic
actives.
3.4 The cycling economy can promote the persistent increasing innovation of economy
The fast developing total quantity of economy of our country has formed a relative sharp-pointed
contradiction with the restrictive bottleneck of being short of resources supply at present. Seeing from
the total quantity of resources’ consumption, our country realized to hold a 4% more or less present of
GDP of all over the world in 2003, but every kind of national and foreign resources we had consumed
was 500 million ton which was estimating of poor quality for the currencies. Seeing from the increasing
range of resources consumption, the consuming elastic coefficient (the proportion between the
increasing speed of material and GIP) of the main material such as steel, iron, nonferrous metal and
cement is showing enlargement. Seeing from the utilizing rate of resources, the producing rate of our
country’s resources is much lower than international advanced levels. Otherwise, the retrieved rate of
our country’s resources is comparatively low, many resources that can use or reuse become waste. There
are 5 million ton abandoned steel, 0.2 million ton abandoned nonferrous metal, 14 million ton
abandoned paper and lots of abandoned plastic and glass are not retrieved utilization every year. Seeing
from the polluting extent of environment, the discharging level of our country’s waste is much higher
than developing countries; the discharge of abandoned water will be forth higher as much as developing
countries if we increase one unit of GDP; the solid waste which produced by unit industrial output is
tenth higher as much as developed countries; the economic loss which made by air pollution hold a
3%-7% percent of GDP every year. And developing cycling economy is very effective in saving
resources.[2]
4 The polices of promoting the development of cycling economy in major effort
Our country has achieved some progresses in researching and summarizing the model of
developing cycling economy in recent years. We should enhance the knowledge, replace the thoughts,
perfect the legality, establish the policies and improve the measures on the basement of summarizing the
various experiences seriously, and bring the developing thoughts of cycling economy into the processes
of economic and social development in earnest.
4.1 Establishing and building the relative system of laws and rules
Though our country has established and political policies on encouraging clean production and
resources utilized of cycling economy, such as The Preventive Law of Solid Waste Polluting
Environment and The Improving Law of Clean Production, our country don't have a section of law
which make the clean production, solid waste utilized the recycling utilization of resources and so on
into the framework of cycling economy and we still lose the rules which can systematic norm the
cycling economy strategies from the level of national developing legislative strategies, plans and
formulation at present. So, we should draw on the experience of Japan and German, we should establish
and publish the laws and rules on promoting cycling economy. What is more important is we should
strength the enforcing power and make sure of obeying that we have already published and punishing
the people who break the law then we can improve the construction of cycling economy according to
law. What make us happy is that the Cycling economic law will be published which will powerfully
promote the sustainable development of Chinese economy.
4.2 The government should promote the development of cycling economy in major effort
First, the movement should establish the developing plan of area economy, improve the supporting
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system of policies, perfect the encouraging function and give some political favorable treatment of
finance, price, tax and banking to promote the construction of cycling economy in ecology industrial
gardens and ecology cities; Second ,the government should build the institution system that developing
cycling economy requires which include the rule of environmental sign, the rule of encouraging
financial credit and the rule of trading the porter of discharging pollution ,which make the development
of cycling economy have relevant protection of institution; Third, the government should establish the
appraising institution of “Green Economy” and build a total appraising target system which include
economic increscent, the consumption of resources the quality of environment and people's welfare,
then we can realize the unity of “the target of achievements” and thoroughly changed the action of
seeking for the increment of GDP unilaterally.
4.3 Demonstrating the function of market mechanism
In order to develop the cycling economy better, we should demonstrate the function of two hands
of governments’ employment and market mechanism sufficiently. We should expand the model of “who
pollute who manage” to the model of “who pollute who manage, who manage who profit” by the
driving mechanism of the “cost-profit” of enterprises and the consuming requires of living quality that
the people seeking for. We should develop the industrial market of no waste or few waste in the
fountainhead of productive activities, the retrieval utilizing market of reproducing resources, the trade
market of abandoned material, the energy resources transforming market of the end punishing rubbish,
the market of green production, the productive market of retrieving relative technology production and
so on in major effort, and demonstrate the function of market mechanism in promoting the development
of cycling economy sufficiently.
4.4 Building the green technology system and going on a new road of industrialization
The scientific technology is the support of developing cycling economy. Developing cycling
economy is going on a new road of industrialization of high scientific content, good economic benefit,
low resources consuming, little environmental pollution and the advantage of labor power can be
sufficiently demonstrated. We should build the “green technology” system which include “the
environmental chemical technology of eliminating the pollution discharging, the technology of waste
resource and no waste on little waste in production processes, and the clean production technology of
producing green production as soon as possible , and build the resources saving and environment
friendly society which take the save waster , save earth, save energy, save wood ,save other resources
and protect the environment as main content. We should bring and adopt the new processes. And new
technology which have no harm or few harm negatively, then we can reduce the consumption of raw
material and energy resources and realize the small increment, high production and low pollution. We
can make close link between preventing structural pollution and changing industrial structure, and
between preventing area pollution and developing ecology industry by building ecology industrial areas,
then we can realize the cycling utilization of middle production, waste and energy power among systems
and form the close industrial ecology link and net, which can reduce the influence the industrial
production bring to environment as far as possible.[3]
5 Conclusions
Cycling economy is the best developing model on solving the contradiction between economic
development and environmental problems. China develops cycling economy should stand on its national
conditions, insist on the basement of people, seek for the harmony between men and nature, practice the
scientific development concept negatively and adopt the scientific developing policy of cycling
economy to deal with the relationship among economic construction, increment of population and
utilization of resources and ecology environmental protection. Developing cycling economy is a
systematic project, and requires the whole society to join in. Chinese market economy is legality
economy. So, first is to establish an entire Cycling Economic Law and enforce it strictly. Second, the
government should demonstrate leaving function and guide public to join in. Third, the cycling is green
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economy, and needs technology protection, so our country should enlarge the researching investment of
green technology. Fourth, the regulating ability if market decides the sustainable developing results of
cycling economy, so we must demonstrate its function sufficiently.
References
[1]
Bao Xiaobin. The scientific development road of cycling economy. The social science of Jiangxi,
2004, 8:27 28 (in Chinese)
[2]
Li Xinying. Research on the Cycling Economic Theory and Practice. Journal of Xinjiang
Teacher-training University, 2004, 4:31 33 (in Chinese)
[3]
Zhou Yumei. Building the Model of Cycling Economy and Realizing the Sustainable Development of
Economy, Economic Research, 2004, 2:42 44 (in Chinese)
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