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The extensive application of synthetic polymer materials like Biodegradable plastics in packaging has promoted the development of the packaging industry on the one hand, but at the same time has brought about environmental protection issues.
A lot of research has been done on the biodegradation of plastic packaging materials around the world. The biodegradability results of most commercial packaging plastics show that commonly used thermoplastics are not easily eroded by bacteria and microorganisms.
If plastic packaging waste is not recycled and turned into garbage, it cannot be rapidly degraded by microorganisms, light, heat, etc. in the environment and become long-term pollutants.
Therefore, from the perspective of environmental protection, on the one hand, we should actively recycle plastic packaging waste, or use less or even no plastic that will cause secondary pollution in packaging;
On the other hand, efforts are being made to research and develop new materials such as biodegradable plastics and bio-based plastics.
Biodegradable plastics
Biodegradable plastics refer to the action of microorganisms existing in nature under natural conditions such as soil and (or) sandy soil, and (or) under specific conditions (such as composting), or under anaerobic digestion conditions, or in aqueous culture fluids. Cause degradation, and eventually completely degrade into carbon dioxide (CO2) or (and) methane (CH4), water (H2O) and mineral inorganic salts of the elements contained in it, as well as new biomass plastics.
The main target markets for biodegradable plastics in food packaging are plastic packaging films, disposable plastic bags and disposable plastic tableware.
Compared with traditional plastic packaging materials, the cost of new degradable materials is slightly higher.
However, with the enhancement of environmental protection awareness, people are willing to use new degradable materials with a slightly higher price in order to protect the environment. The enhancement of environmental protection awareness has brought huge development opportunities to the biodegradable new material industry.
With the development of our country’s economy, we have successfully held many large-scale events that shocked the world, such as the Olympic Games and the World Expo. The need for the protection of various world cultural heritage sites and national scenic spots, and the environmental pollution caused by plastics have been paid more and more attention. Governments at all levels have control of white pollution is listed as one of the key tasks.
Bio-based plastics
Bio-based plastics refer to polymer materials with plastic properties directly synthesized by organisms (including animals, plants and microorganisms) or other renewable resources such as carbon dioxide, as polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA, including PHB, PHBV, etc.);
Or from natural polymers (starch, cellulose, chitin, lignin, protein, polypeptide, nucleic acid, etc.), or from their structural units or derivatives, obtained by biological or chemical means with plastic properties polymer materials;
Or blends or composites with these polymer materials as main components, such as polylactic acid, poly amino acid, plastic starch, starch-based plastics, plant fiber molded products, modified cellulose, protein, bio-based polyamide, carbon dioxide Copolymer, etc.
In terms of the application of bio-based plastics, packaging will still dominate the market, currently accounting for about 50% to 60% of the market share.
Although the research on this type of material started late, a report on the bio-based plastics market completed by Helmut Kaiser Consulting Company pointed out that the global bio-plastics market will grow rapidly, and the average annual growth rate is expected to reach 8% to 10%. From $1 billion in 2007 to $10 billion in 2020.
By 2025, Asia will be the leader in the bioplastics market with approximately 32% market share, followed by Europe with 31% and the US with 28%. Asia will occupy the leading position in the market mainly based on the rapid development of transgenic plants.
In 2007, bioplastics accounted for about 10% to 15% of the plastic market, and it is expected to reach 25% to 30% by 2020. It will mainly benefit from the improvement of the technical performance of bioplastics and technological innovation.
The Japanese government has issued the “Biotechnology Strategy Outline” and “Biomass Japan Comprehensive Strategy” to promote the use of renewable resources such as bio-based plastics. It is mentioned that expanding the use of bioplastics is an important issue.
The United States Department of Agriculture encourages the production of bioplastics to implement a procurement program for biological products since 2004, encouraging consumers to actively consume biological products with high biomass content.
The Vincotte Institute in Belgium, Europe, launched the OKbiobased label to indicate the biobased content of bioplastic products, encouraging consumers to consume green and environmentally friendly bioplastics.
Due to the short development time of bio-based materials in my country, there are no standards and test methods for many products, and foreign standards and test evaluation systems have been formulated relatively early. Therefore, in terms of bio-based content and biodegradability, domestic products are often exported. hit a wall.
my country’s biodegradable plastics industry is still fledgling. It is still difficult for enterprises to make profits immediately. The acceptance of the market and consumers also needs a certain process, but the environmental protection cause still needs the government to pay for it.
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