"Plastic Restriction Order" forces plastic enterprises to transform and upgrade
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With the full implementation of the ban on plastics in my country, the annual domestic demand for biodegradable polyester PBAT is expected to exceed 10 million to 15 million tons.
Experts believe that circular economy is the future development direction of the plastics industry.
"The implementation of the'plastic restriction order' has brought new opportunities for plastic products manufacturers!" said Liu Xingyan, the legal person of Chongqing Shengshi New Materials Co., Ltd.
Recently, the company signed a contract with Chongqing Changshou Economic Development Zone to invest in new chemical materials projects, and annual sales revenue will exceed 10 billion yuan after reaching production capacity.
The project has a PBAT production facility with a production capacity of 240,000 tons/year. Not only will its output become the first in the country and even the world, but it will also have obvious scale advantages, filling the gap in biodegradable materials in the southwest region.
Data shows that with the full implementation of my country's plastic ban, the annual domestic demand for biodegradable polyester PBAT is expected to exceed 10 million to 15 million tons.
In recent years, the ubiquitous plastic products have made environmental pollution more and more serious. In June this year, the state launched a "plastic restriction order": at the end of the year, the production and sales of some plastic products will be completely banned, green plastic products will be promoted, new business types will be explored, and plastics will be regulated. Waste recycling and disposal, special treatment of plastic garbage.
It is understood that the first bans include non-degradable plastic bags, disposable plastic products in hotels, disposable plastic tableware, straws and express packaging. Non-degradable plastic products are prohibited.
Once these daily necessities, which have penetrated all aspects of public life, are banned, how will they affect our lives? What challenges will plastic product manufacturers face?
Biodegradable materials "fire"
A new study from "Science" shows that global plastic emissions may reach 53 million tons in the future, which is 6.6 times the United Nations standard (8 million tons).
A latest statistical data shows that: at present, the world's only disposable plastic products reach 120 million tons every year, of which only 10% are recycled, about 12% are incinerated, and more than 70% are discarded into the soil, air and ocean.
The annual residual agricultural film in China's soil alone is as high as 350,000 tons, and the residual film rate is 42%.
With the development of economy, environmental governance has risen to the top level of national development. As an important source of environmental pollution, the waste plastic industry has reached the point where it cannot be transformed.
What is even more worrying is that under the influence of the new crown epidemic, the treatment of plastic pollution has become more difficult.
According to data during the epidemic in China, in February this year, my country produced 116 million disposable masks every day, which is 12 times the output of medical masks before the epidemic.
The output of medical plastic waste has also increased. During the peak of the epidemic this year, Wuhan's medical system was able to produce more than 240 tons of disposable plastic medical waste every day.
According to a report from the business analysis website BusinessWire, the global plastic packaging market value during the epidemic has increased from US$909.2 billion in 2019 to US$1012.6 billion in 2021.
In order to dispose of the excessive amount of plastic medical waste as soon as possible, some improper ways of disposing of waste plastics appeared during the epidemic, such as mobile incineration, direct landfill, or on-site incineration.
However, according to a report by the World Wide Fund for Nature in 2020, even if only 1% of masks are handled improperly, plastic waste with a mass of up to 30-40 tons may be generated.
With the increasingly serious environmental pollution, the complete ban on plastic straws at the end of the year is another major countermeasure for plastic pollution in my country.
Among them, for the “plastic reduction” in the takeaway field, there are also clear indicators: by 2025, the consumption intensity of non-degradable disposable plastic tableware in the catering takeaway field in cities above the prefecture level will be reduced by 30%.
"Under the national policy, non-degradable and green environmental protection are already important directions for the development of the plastics industry." said Liu Hanlong, secretary general of the Chongqing Plastics Industry Association.
According to statistics from Huaan Securities, as of July 2020, there are 36 companies under construction or proposed to build biodegradable plastic projects, adding a total of 4.405 million tons of new capacity.
Challenges in transformation
Degradable plastic materials are sought after by raw material companies, but they face difficulties in mid- and downstream companies.
"Polylactic acid is too expensive, and the cost is three times that of what we currently produce." Zhang Jia, who specializes in the production of environmentally friendly plastic garbage bags in Bayuquan District, Dalian, admitted frankly that for small private enterprises like them, the cost of biodegradable materials is the most difficult Things to solve.
The plastic production plant operated by Zhang Jia was opened in 2018, and private plastic companies like her are currently growing.
According to the company's data, there are currently 2.83 million existing and surviving companies related to plastic products in my country.
Among them, the number of registrations was the largest in 2019, reaching 566,000, a year-on-year increase of 25.5%.
Although the number of companies is large, there is a problem of low concentration, especially in the daily necessities of the plastics industry, where a large number of small and medium private companies are scattered, and they face multiple difficulties on the road to biodegradable transformation.
At present, the segmentation of plastic products is serious and the market competition is fierce.
Zhang Jia told reporters that the profit margins of their plastic factories are basically below 10%, even as low as 5% in the off-season.
"My machine is 300,000 yuan. It will take a long time for me to earn back the cost of the machine," Zhang Jia said.
In addition to the fierce competition in the market itself, the transformation of processing enterprises is facing cost dilemmas, and market acceptance will also become a new test.
"As the cost of biodegradable raw materials increases, the price of plastic bags will also increase by 2 to 3 times. If we sell this, someone will not necessarily buy it." Zhang Jia said.
To this end, manufacturers have also explored ways to differentiate their products, such as: the development of modified materials for new energy vehicles; the development of lightweight and high-strength materials for 3D printing; and the high resistance of packaging Development of combustible and recyclable membrane grade materials.
New technology applications are valued
"The plastic products industry has gone through the stage of'is there any good', and is now developing towards a stage of'strong but not strong'." said Guo Yongxin, executive secretary of the China Plastics Industry Conference and China National Light Industry Council.
Guo Yongxin said that the promotion of degradable materials will definitely affect the raw material system, price system, and product system.
At present, the way for China's plastics industry to achieve high-quality development is still to rely on four directions: independent innovation, intelligent manufacturing, international layout, and brand operation.
For a long time, the recycling and environmental protection treatment of low residual value waste plastics has always been a pain point and a shortcoming point for the whole industry. With the continuous research and development and technological breakthrough of waste plastic pyrolysis and oilification technology, a new treatment method has been found.
This year, domestic and foreign petrochemical giants, including Sinopec and SABIC, have paid unprecedented attention to this technology. Some domestic and foreign environmental protection technology companies have also made substantial technological breakthroughs. Large-scale clean production equipment for waste plastic pyrolysis and oil conversion will soon be industrialized. Production is ushering in an outbreak period.
"Circular economy is the future development direction of our plastics industry. It is not only the plastic industry itself, but also the relevant standards and operating mechanisms of plastic production by the law, the government's relevant measures for plastic recycling, the innovation capabilities of enterprises, and the acceptance of degradable plastics by society. Degree, will become a new challenge for the plastics industry." Liu Hanguang said.
Li Guo