Good prospects for biodegradable plastics

According to the forecast of related departments, by 2005, China will need 5 million tons of plastic packaging materials, and plastic packaging waste will reach 1.5 million tons; China's area of ​​covering film is 500 million acres, with nursery ladders, agricultural and sideline products preservation Expected demand for materials, etc. will reach 1 million tons, and part of the disposable sundry goods and medical materials are also difficult to collect or not suitable for recycling. It is expected that the demand will reach 1 million tons.
Therefore, by 2005, China's difficult to recycle plastic waste will reach 3.5 million tons, which will lead to increasingly serious environmental problems. If 50% of them are replaced by biodegradable plastics, the demand for biodegradable plastics will reach 1.75 million tons. Therefore, reducing plastics has greater market potential in China.
In recent years, domestic packaging plastics have exceeded 4 million tons, among which disposable plastic packaging that is difficult to recycle accounts for about 30%. The annual amount of plastic packaging waste is 1.2 million tons, and plastic plastic film is more than 400,000 tons. Because the plastic film is thin, it is difficult to recycle it after it is broken into the farmland and mixed with a large amount of sand.
In response to disposable lunch boxes and plastic packaging, in 1996 the relevant national authorities promulgated the "Solution for the Treatment of Solid Waste in the People's Republic of China," which clearly stipulates the regulation of plastics for disposable packaging, and should use readily recyclable materials, be easy to dispose of or be used in the environment. Easy to absorb products.
So far, it has been known across the country that a number of provinces and municipalities have successively introduced banned or restricted use of ordinary polystyrene plastic foam tableware and general vinyl bags under 25 μm; in 1998, the State Environmental Protection Administration, the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Railways and other joint publications. The "Regulations on Strengthening the Management of Plastic Packaging Wastes in Key Traffic Routes, Watersheds, and Scenic Spots" mainly covers the use of EPS cutlery, etc. on traffic trunk lines; After the emergency notification of foam plastic tableware, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and other major cities introduced the ban on the use or restriction of EPS cutlery and ultra-thin plastic bags, the principle of “source control, recycling, gradual ban, encourage substitution” was implemented.
The outlook for degradable plastics as a high-tech product and environmental protection product is optimistic. Its development not only broadens the function of plastics, but also alleviates environmental problems to some extent.
Therefore, all countries are strengthening the study of degradable plastics and accelerating the process of practical application. China is a big country in the production and use of plastics. It should also increase the R&D of fallable plastic packaging materials to meet the needs of the market.