Study Of China's Circular Economy Legislation

The basic background of advancing the development of circular economy is that China is facing the serious resource and energy shortage and environmental pollution. The main reason is the traditional economic increase way and life style of High Input, High Depletion and High Pollution or Mass Production, Heavy Consumption and Large Abandonment in China. The traditional mode of economic development is the line shape process for the unidirectional flow and the straight line of resource which is Resources—Product—Waste. In this process, economic increase is realized by the unidirectional line shape process that material and energy continuously convert into waste. However, circular economy is different with the traditional economic mode which is the feedback process of Resources—Product—Renewable Resources and it is the closed circular flow of material resources. Circular economy are regard as an undivided entirety for each economic activity of human society and various resource essential factors of natural resource and are jointly considered in the economic development. It requires that natural resource and environmental capacity are utilized in an environmental friendly way and decreases the influence of economic activity on natural environment to the possible little degree. As a result, the harmonious development can be realized for economic increase and environmental quality improvement. Boulding K., an American economist, advanced the concept of Ecological Economy. The famous Spaceship Theory raised by Boulding K. is considered the ideological sprout of circular economy. The basic view of ecological economy, which is an important correction and supplement for traditional economics, forms the theoretical foundation of circular economy with the basic principle of traditional economics. For the basic principle of circular economy, the mainstream opinion of domestic scholars is 3R principles which is resource input to be reduced (reduce), resource utility to be recycled (recycle), waste to be reuses (reuse). The author of this paper believes that the core basic principals of circular economy are 4R which is Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Renewable. As a kind of initiative of the social transform, Circular economic society has the special dependence on law. Circular economic mode, which is a new integrated economic development mode for the guidance of production and consumption system, has its own structure of law system. Currently, circular economy in China is on the primary stage and it still faces some serious obstacles which shall be overcome by some measures such as administration, economy and law. However, law has standardization, stability, mandatory, openness and maximum authority, which are the highest form of adjusting and controlling politics, economy and social development. Other measures can not reach and replace law's function and strength. Hence, circular economy law should be accelerated for the development of circular economy.Circular economic legislation has reflected the change of mutual legislative concept, that is, the change from terminal operation, fountainhead control to circular uses in the tendency with the combination of environmental protection and sustainable development. As an application mode of sustainable development, circular economy was adopted initially by developed countries. Many countries especially developed countries shall bring circular economy into an orbit of law system and ascertain this advanced economic development mode by legislation. In these countries, the legislation of Germany, Japan, European Union and U.S.A. are the most remarkable. The legislation modes of circular economy for developed countries have two types. One is the pollution prevention, for example, U.S.A. brings the recovery and use of resources into the pollution prevention law system. The other is circular economy, for example, Japan and Germany bring the whole social activities into the orbit of circular economy. Especially, Japan put forward to build the circular society.China adopted Clear Produce Promotion Law which is a special law to impel and execute clear produce in 2002. It made a great progress for environmental prevention legislation in China under the concept of circular economy. Solid Waste Environmental Pollution Prevention Law adopted in 2004 clearly posed the concept of circular economy in the first time, which stipulated the principals of reduction, resource and sanitization for solid waste treatment. Circular economic legislation in China is on the primary stage and a lot of blanks of laws need to be filled up. According to the current facts, the thinking of the development of circular economic legislation is not very distinct, and some stipulations are too general with little operability. Meanwhile, the some related laws are existing unharmonious problems. China should break through the current guiding ideology of circular economic legislation to meet the requirement of sustainable development and takes the sustainable development as the guiding ideology of legislation.For the thinking of circular economic legislation, the author of this paper believes that the program of macro-legislation and micro-legislation should be executed together. The concrete and urgent problems should be solved in time and the basic law should be also formulated. When formulating circular economic law, the following principals should be insisted on. That is, following naturally ecological law and economic development law, scientific legal adjustment on circular economic activities law, sticking on 4R principals including waste reduction, reuse, recycle and renewable principal, insisting on comprehensive adjustment law including government leading, market impelling, citizen participating. On the problem of suitable subject for circular economic law, the author believes that enterprises, government, citizen and other social organization should be adjusted by circular economic law. At the same time, they should save resources and protect environment according to the request of circular economic law. On the behavior problem of adjustment according to the national conditions and the current legal foundation, the author believes that circular economic law applies to the following three behaviors. The first one is clear production behavior. The second is comprehensive use behavior. And the third is green consumption behavior. The application of region limits is basically identical with other laws, that is, it is suitable in the domain of the People's Republic of China, but it applies to Hong Kong Basic Law and Macao Basic Law in Hong Kong and Macao respectively.The author believes that China should establish the circular economic law system, in which Circular Economic Law is the base, Clear Production Promotion Law, Energy Save Law, Resource Efficient Utility Promotion Law and Solid Waste Environmental Pollution Prevention Law are the main force, the single legislation for the special resource and produce is the supplementary. The main rules of circular economy in China are circular economic development planning rule, directory rule, circular economic standard and index system rule, producer extending responsibility rule, economic support rule, circular economic permission rule for construction projects, circular utility rules, government green purchase rule, compulsory reclamation rule for key products and package, and reclamation and use rule for renewable resources.