New materials are the foundation of the development of modern science and technology, and degradable plastics are emerging new plastic materials. As the global demand for improving the environment becomes more and more intense, the use of biodegradable plastics is considered to be the most effective solution to eradicate the "white pollution" of single-use plastics. Focusing on China's two-carbon strategic goal, the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions from bio-based biodegradable plastics throughout the life cycle is relatively low. In this context, this report provides an in-depth study of the current state of the degradable plastics industry. Our company also produces cornstarch lunch boxes based on market research and understanding to respond to the country's call.
The fundamental reason why traditional plastics bring serious white pollution is their long degradation time, and the biggest advantage of degradable plastics compared with traditional plastics is that the degradation time is short, which can fundamentally solve this problem.
Degradable plastics refer to a class of plastics whose various properties can meet the requirements of use, the properties remain unchanged during the storage period, and can be degraded into environmentally harmless substances under natural conditions after use. This concept first originated in Europe. Western developed countries use degradable disposable utensils with the idea of a circular economy. For example, in the late 1980s, Sweden trial-produced disposable fast food boxes made of potatoes and corn. The most ideal degradable plastic should have the same performance as non-degradable plastic during use, and after use, it can be naturally decomposed into fragments and degraded into macromolecules and small molecules step by step under various natural conditions such as abandonment and landfill. , carbon dioxide, and water.
Europe, which was the first to develop degradable plastics, developed a starch-modified plastic route, which is called the first generation of degradable plastics. This type of starch-based degradable plastic is modified by adding additives such as starch during the polymerization of traditional monomers such as PE (polyethylene) so that the plastic can be cracked into tiny plastic fragments in the environment. However, in later research, it was found that the plastic after it became fragments could not be completely degraded, and it would continue to poison the environment by forming microplastics. Therefore, starch-modified plastics are also called "destructible plastics" (incompletely degradable). Second-generation degradable plastics are photothermally degradable plastics, and their development is also very slow due to strict requirements on degradation conditions such as temperature and light intensity.
Although the proportion of degradable plastics in the total plastic size is still very small, the industry has been developing for many years, and the answer to which varieties are most valued by the market has actually been answered, but we still hope to analyze the reasons in depth, so as to provide insights into the future Outlook. As mentioned above, the top three degradable plastics are starch composite plastics, PLA and PBAT, which together account for nearly 90%. From the performance comparison of various materials, it can be seen that the performance of starch composite plastics is actually relatively poor, and the current proportion can be ranked first. The most important reason is that the threshold is not high and the price is low. But the material is ultimately to solve the problem, only low price will not have too strong vitality, so although the price of PLA and PBAT is significantly higher than that of starch composite plastics, the share of the two is not much lower than that of starch materials.
Compared with other degradable plastics, PLA has no advantages in some aspects, but PLA has unique properties in terms of hardness and transparency. Generally, a single type of plastic cannot have advantages in all indicators, so composite methods are often used to make products that meet downstream needs. Compared with traditional plastics, degradable plastics are still slightly insufficient in performance, so it is more necessary to use a combination of multiple materials, and different materials provide their own unique advantages. Most plastic products require hardness, and many application scenarios also require transparency. Therefore, polylactic acid has become an essential basic material for the development of degradable plastics.
The replacement of degradable plastics for ordinary plastics cannot be achieved overnight. It needs to be realized step by step. The first thing that needs to be banned and replaced are disposable products, including plastic bags, tableware, express bags, woven bags, tapes, and so on. Judging from the latest national policy, it will be divided into three nodes from 2020 to the end of 2025, and the scope of the ban will be expanded in turn. By the end of 2025, the use of disposable plastic products will be almost completely banned in China. There is no accurate statistical data on the current domestic consumption of these single-use plastic products, and it is difficult to predict how much can be replaced by degradable plastics after they are banned in the future. However, even if only some disposable plastics are replaced by degradable plastics in the future, we expect that there will be dozens of times of growth space for the current domestic consumption of degradable plastics of less than 100,000 tons.
The development of degradable plastics has been slow in the early stage. The main reason is that the production cost is high and the implementation policy is not strong enough. However, since China banned the import of foreign waste in 2018, the industry trend has changed significantly. In the past, although overseas developed countries produced a large amount of plastic waste, by exporting to China and other regions, the huge external cost was solved with a small cash cost; while China has borne additional external costs, and the burden is getting heavier and heavier. . In order to solve the serious waste problem, China has begun to ban the import of foreign garbage, which has caused a sudden increase in the processing cost of developed countries. Therefore, it can be seen that European countries have successively introduced mandatory policies for plastics since 2018, and domestic policies have also begun to increase. Strict, so we believe that degradable plastics have entered an industry explosion period, and polylactic acid (PLA) and PBAT are the most promising materials.
Most biodegradable polymers contain abundant active groups such as hydroxyl and carboxyl groups. It is particularly important to develop targeted multifunctional additives for biodegradable plastics. At the same time, both high efficiency and low cost must be taken into account in the fields of filling and recycling.