More than ten years ago, in China, 1 billion plastic bags were used every day to buy vegetables, and more than 2 billion plastic bags were used every day. Beijing discards 2.3 billion plastic bags every year, generating 140,000 tons of waste plastic packaging waste, accounting for 3% of the total domestic waste; Shanghai produces 190,000 tons of waste plastic packaging waste every year, accounting for 7% of the total domestic waste; Tianjin’s annual waste Plastic packaging waste also exceeds 100,000 tons. Non-degradable plastic bags used as garbage bags will seriously harm the environment. Burying plastic bags in the ground will seriously pollute the soil; if incinerated, it will generate harmful smoke and dust, polluting the environment for a long time.
Since June 1, 2008, China has banned the production, sale and use of plastic shopping bags with a thickness of less than 0.025 mm; the system of paid use of plastic shopping bags has been implemented in all supermarkets, shopping malls, bazaars and other retail places. Free plastic shopping bags. However, before the “plastic restriction order”, the two parts of plastic bags together only accounted for about 20% of the total consumption of plastic bags, and there were basically no restrictions on small shops, shops and vendors who were the main suppliers of plastic bags. Plenty of free, out-of-specification plastic bags are being offered to consumers. This can also be understood as the lack of binding force of the “plastic restriction order” on plastic bag manufacturers, causing a large number of substandard plastic bags to circulate in the market.
Biodegradable plastics refer to a class of plastics that are degraded by the action of naturally occurring microorganisms such as bacteria, molds (fungi) and algae. The ideal biodegradable plastic is a polymer material with excellent performance, which can be completely decomposed by environmental microorganisms after being discarded, and finally be inorganicized to become an integral part of the carbon cycle in nature. “Paper” is a typical biodegradable material, while “synthetic plastic” is a typical polymer material. Therefore, biodegradable plastics are polymer materials that have the properties of both “paper” and “synthetic plastics”.
In the use of biodegradable plastic bags, countries around the world have their own actions. France has launched a framework agreement to promote a national bio-based compostable waste plastic bag for the production of waste plastic bags containing vegetable-based materials, suitable for consumers throughout the country. German supermarket Aldi S·d promotes biodegradable plastic bags made from BASF’s biodegradable plastic Ecovio, which consists of Ecoflex and polylactic acid (PLA) made from grains. Ecoflex is a petrochemical based polyester, but due to its special molecular structure it can be digested by microorganisms and is completely degradable according to European standard EN 13432. BASF Thailand has launched a pilot program to promote the use of biodegradable plastic bags to promote the use of biodegradable plastics to collect organic household waste and to use the resulting high-quality compost as organic fertilizer to improve soil quality. With the increasingly tight supply of global petroleum resources and the increasingly prominent environmental protection issues caused by synthetic plastics using petroleum as raw materials, the market demand for bioplastics will grow rapidly.
In addition, the development of low-carbon economy has also brought new development opportunities to biodegradable plastics. The emergence of the concept of “low carbon economy” is inseparable from the two themes of climate change and energy security. It is an economic model based on low energy consumption, low pollution and low emission, and it is another major progress of human society after agricultural civilization and industrial civilization. At present, the development of low-carbon economy is in the ascendant, and it is becoming a new growth point of the world economy. The development of a low-carbon economy is becoming an important strategic choice for many countries in the world to seize the commanding heights of the future economy. The rapid development of the low-carbon market will have a profound impact on the global industry and finance, and then affect the development pattern of the world economy. The low-carbon economy may become the world economy. A new model for future development and corresponding new game rules are formed. Therefore, manufacturers continue to expand their production capacity and actively develop new products. Famous consulting companies in various countries have also made optimistic predictions about the future of bioplastics. Bioplastics have become a sizable market, both in retail and in resin, and this market will continue to grow in the coming years.
According to the forecast of experts, in the future, there will be a big sales market dominated by starch-based, PLA, PBS-degradable plastics, with an annual output value of tens of billions of yuan. According to the product life cycle analysis, bioplastic products are still in their infancy and development stage, and the market has huge growth potential. Its market demand will be determined by several factors: national policies, customer needs, oil price increases, etc., and these factors and conditions are gradually taking shape, especially the rise of low-carbon economy, which has played a significant role in the development of global bioplastics. effect. At the same time, carbon emissions trading will replace oil futures trading, which is also likely to promote the explosive growth of bioplastics market demand.