Can the alternatives keep up?
——Market survey of degradable plastic products
Our reporter Guo Jingyuan Yuan Yong
The "most stringent plastic restriction order" in history has been implemented nationwide this year, and the plastics industry is facing the challenge of upgrading.
Among them, biodegradable plastics, which are the most advantageous alternative to traditional plastics, have become the "new favorite" in the market.
However, the reporter found that the current degradable plastic industry is still "small and fragmented", high-end production capacity is still insufficient, enterprises and merchants are under high cost pressure, and there is objective resistance to comprehensive product promotion, and a new round of quality upgrading is urgently needed.
In January 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued the "Opinions on Further Strengthening the Control of Plastic Pollution", which not only proposed the prohibition and restriction of single-use plastic products control requirements for multiple industries, but also proposed the promotion and application of alternative products and cultivation and optimization New business models, new models and measures to increase the supply of green products are known as the "most stringent plastic restrictions" in history.
After a lapse of one year, this new regulation has been officially implemented nationwide, and various localities have also introduced local versions of plastic restriction measures. Special rectification work has gradually advanced, and the new and old plastics industries are facing upgrading challenges.
Since the implementation of the new version of the plastic restriction order, biodegradable plastic products have become the "new favorite" in the market, and related companies are also intensively deploying in this field.
In 2019, the output of plastic products in China exceeded 80 million tons. Some people have proposed that assuming that 20% of the market is replaced by biodegradable plastics, the corresponding market size will have room for a hundredfold growth compared with the current market, and the industrial development will enter the "golden age".
But at the same time, the scale of the degradable plastics industry is still "small and fragmented", with excess low-end production capacity and insufficient high-end production capacity, and a new round of quality upgrading is urgently needed.
Have the supermarket department stores and takeaway express around you "reduced their plasticity"?
How about the application and promotion of biodegradable plastics?
Will the industry usher in a new spring of thriving growth?
Can't control the big chain can't control the commissary
Many large supermarket chains and catering companies have completely replaced biodegradable plastic bags, but some roadside shops still use disposable plastic bags
After the new version of the plastic restriction order was issued, all parts of the country responded positively, and related measures in Hainan, Shandong, Zhejiang, Henan, Beijing... and many other places have been introduced to prevent "white pollution".
In December last year, Beijing issued the "Beijing Plastic Pollution Control Action Plan (2020-2025)", focusing on key industries such as catering, food delivery platforms, wholesale and retail, strengthening plastic reduction efforts, and strictly controlling disposable plastic products.
During an interview in Beijing, the reporter discovered that many large supermarket chains have completely replaced biodegradable plastic bags, and many large chain catering companies have gradually eliminated the disposable plastic packaging boxes and straws that were commonly used in the past and replaced them with paper or other biodegradable products. Material substitutes.
In the Zhongguancun store of Carrefour Supermarket, the reporter saw that the shopping bags here have been replaced with biodegradable plastic bags.
Among them, the large shopping bag is priced at 0.8 yuan, and the small shopping bag is 0.5 yuan.
According to the supermarket staff, the original general plastic bags are priced at 0.3 yuan for large and 0.2 yuan for small, but they will no longer be on sale from January 1 this year.
Due to the increase in prices, the number of consumers buying plastic bags has decreased significantly, and most of them are young people. Most middle-aged and elderly consumers will bring their own shopping bags.
In addition to Carrefour, Beijing’s Hema Xiansheng, Bianlifeng, Supermarket and other supermarkets and convenience stores have fully implemented biodegradable shopping bags, and their prices have risen significantly. Large shopping bags in individual supermarkets even sell for more than 1 yuan. .
In front of the cashier of Beijing's Xihongmen Auchan Supermarket, the reporter met Ms. Niu who chose to temporarily buy biodegradable plastic bags in the supermarket because she did not bring her own shopping bags.
She told reporters that there are usually fewer opportunities to go to offline supermarkets for shopping, and she has not developed the habit of bringing her own shopping bags. “I always thought that shopping bags in the supermarket were only about 30 cents, and I didn’t think it was too expensive. Now biodegradable plastics The price of the bag is indeed more expensive than before, but the material is more environmentally friendly. I will strive to prepare my own shopping bags in the future."
The "plastic reduction" revolution is even more innovative in the new tea industry.
The reporter tried to place an order for Hey Tea drink on the takeaway APP. The order page has a straw category, which is subdivided into three options: "PLA biodegradable straw", "paper straw", and "no straw".
The PLA biodegradable straws in hand seem to be no different from ordinary plastic straws, but in fact there is a hidden secret.
According to the introduction of Hey Tea, Hey Tea has replaced the disposable non-degradable plastic straws, tableware, and packaging bags used in all stores across the country with polylactic acid (PLA) materials before January 1 this year. This material can be used by natural microorganisms. Completely degrade and eventually produce carbon dioxide and water.
At the same time, PLA materials avoid the defects of ordinary paper materials in terms of shaping, high temperature resistance, and soaking resistance.
Reducing the amount from the source and reducing the disposable waste entering the terminal link is the key to the food delivery industry to implement the plastic restriction order.
The reporter called several popular restaurants in Xicheng District, Beijing through the Meituan takeaway platform. Most of the merchants stated that they have used biodegradable plastic boxes for packaging since last year. “The platform requires us to gradually replace the original disposable plastic lunch boxes from December last year. , And recommended a biodegradable packaging solution. There are many green packaging companies and products to choose from."
However, some merchants said that they were not aware of the new version of the plastic restriction order policy and had not received relevant notifications.
During the interview, the reporter also found that the use of biodegradable plastic products has not been fully popularized, but has shown a phenomenon that "big chains can be controlled, but small shops can't be controlled".
The reporter visited several roadside breakfast shops and fruit shops in Zhongguancun, Beijing, and found that most shops still use disposable plastic bags.
A fruit shop owner said frankly that the main reason for using disposable plastic bags is the low cost. "The purchase cost of a biodegradable shopping bag is 2 cents, compared with the cost of ordinary plastic bags, which is 2 cents on average. Around. We use hundreds of bags a day, and the total cost varies greatly."
However, the shopkeeper also said that ordinary plastic bags have become more and more difficult to buy in recent months, "I still use the old stock now. When this batch is used up, we will start to use biodegradable plastic bags."
Compete for the "golden track" but don't rush into it
The degradable plastics industry is expected to achieve rapid development, but the current industry is small and fragmented, facing the challenge of a new round of industrial upgrading
The increase in downstream demand and the intensive release of plastic restriction measures in various regions have helped many upstream manufacturers to increase the production capacity of biodegradable materials to compete for this "golden track".
On January 19, Yingkou Kanghui Petrochemical Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Hengli Petrochemical Co., Ltd., officially signed a contract with an annual output of 600,000 tons of polybutylene succinate (PBS) biodegradable plastics.
After the project is put into production, it will greatly alleviate the domestic supply gap of biodegradable plastics.
As the world's leading company in degradable plastic materials, Kingfa Technology Co., Ltd. used to focus on export business, and 80% of the company's raw materials are sold abroad.
After the implementation of the new version of the plastic restriction order, Kingfa Technology's production line has been maintained at full production and sales.
With the increase in domestic demand, the company is stepping up the construction of new production capacity and the development of new biodegradable plastics. The 60,000-ton copolyester (PBAT) production line is currently under construction and is expected to be put into operation in the first half of this year. The 30,000-ton PLA production line will also be completed in the first half of this year. Put into production quarterly.
According to a report released by the Foresight Industry Research Institute, the output of plastic products in China in 2019 reached 81.84 million tons, accounting for about a quarter of global plastic demand.
At the same time, the consumption of biodegradable plastics in my country in 2019 was only 520,000 tons, accounting for only 4.6% of the global total, which was significantly lower than the global average.
"With the introduction of supporting policies, the production capacity of biodegradable plastics, which is the most advantageous alternative to traditional plastics among degradable materials, will grow rapidly, and the entire industry will also usher in new development opportunities." Chairman of Levima New Material Technology Co., Ltd. Zheng Yueming said.
At present, my country’s degradable plastics are still in the industry introduction period. Zheng Yueming told reporters that, taking the mainstream biodegradable material PLA products on the market, domestic companies have just started, and there is still a big gap between technology and European and American companies. Continuous and stable production technology has not yet achieved a breakthrough; domestic companies have mastered the production technology of PBS products, but they need to be further improved in terms of continuous and stable production; China's technology for polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) products is among the world's advanced, but the production cost is still Large drop space.
However, this also means that potential market gaps urgently need to be filled.
According to estimates, by 2025, the demand for biodegradable plastics in the four fields of disposable plastic tableware, plastic shopping bags, agricultural mulch and express packaging will form a total market space of about 2.5 million tons, and the market size will reach about 50 billion yuan. .
"Although the new regulations are the'most stringent plastic restriction order' in history, it does not mean a total ban on plastics, nor does it mean that biodegradable plastics can completely replace disposable plastics. We must prevent plastic companies from rushing into chaos. Reduce blind investment and low-level expansion.” Du Huanzheng, director of the Institute of Circular Economy of Tongji University, said in an interview that the biodegradable plastics industry is expected to achieve rapid development, but the current industry is small and fragmented, and is facing a new round of industrial upgrading. baptism.
During the investigation and visit, the reporter also found that the current biodegradable plastic products on the market are mixed, and some manufacturers are suspected of using environmental protection terms such as "degradable" and "biodegradable" to mislead consumers and conduct false and exaggerated publicity.
"We should strengthen the construction of biodegradable plastic-related systems and industry standards, increase support for related policies, continue to enrich standardized and international third-party testing capabilities, improve the efficiency and reliability of performance evaluation, and guide the healthy development of the industry." Du Huanzheng Say.
Behind the surge in production capacity, the standardized development of the degradable plastics industry still has a long way to go.
Zheng Yueming believes that the current structure of the degradable plastics industry is unreasonable, high-end production capacity is insufficient, and low-end production capacity faces the risk of surplus. It is also necessary for the state to strengthen industrial guidance, improve the standard system, and further increase support for key core technology research and development and industrialization.
Promote quality upgrading with innovation as the starting point
If an enterprise wants to achieve long-term development, it needs to continue to innovate, improve product quality, and enhance product competitiveness.
Technological innovation is becoming a weapon for large-scale enterprises to seize industry outlets.
Zheng Yueming believes that companies should reduce the cost of biodegradable materials through technological innovation and other methods, while continuously improving product quality, thereby enhancing product competitiveness.
"Biodegradable materials are one of Levima's key research and development areas. Among them, the PLA project, including some products such as special materials for polylactic acid bottle caps, has been developed in the laboratory." Zheng Yueming said.
Although the market opportunities brought by the new version of the plastic restriction order can be expected, in the current mixed market of degradable plastics, companies that want to achieve long-term development need to continue to innovate and improve product quality.
Consumer experience is an element that cannot be ignored in product update iterations, and is an important basis for companies to carry out product innovation.
In 2020, Hefei Hengxin Environmental Technology Co., Ltd. has become a packaging supplier for a new tea chain store.
"Our original biodegradable products used to be sold directly abroad, but encountered a very big bottleneck in the domestic market. Due to differences in domestic and foreign consumption habits, many products cannot be simply replaced, such as the matching of PLA hot drink cups and lids. In terms of degree, most domestic beverages are taken out, and the packaging materials should be completely sealed without any spillage, etc." said Yan Deping, chairman and general manager of Hefei Hengxin Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd.
In order to change every cup of drink into a "satisfactory and environmentally friendly" coat, Hengxin Environmental Protection constantly communicates with customers about their needs. In addition to strict consideration of environmental factors such as biodegradability, it also focuses on the characteristics of hot and cold drinks, including the length of the straw, the inside and outside of the straw. The caliber, incision inclination, drop performance, appearance, etc. will be polished until the supply plan is confirmed.
Yan Deping said with emotion, “In the past four months, we often received customer experience feedback from customers late at night, and then we continued to improve and perfect, and finally produced packaging that has both good user experience and environmental protection requirements.”
"Since last year, influential domestic chemical companies have consistently responded to the requirements of the new version of the plastic restriction order, switching from ordinary plastics to products with degradable materials. This is why even in 2020, they will be under pressure from the new crown pneumonia epidemic, shortage of raw materials, and tight export containers. Our company’s biodegradable plastic products can still maintain a 23% market growth rate.” Yan Deping said. Now the company has received more and more orders from the new tea drinks and large-scale chain catering sectors, and has also explored a set of “please The approach of "coming in and going out" insists on listening to more downstream customers' needs and suggestions, and assisting the continuous upgrading of industry processes based on consumer demand.
Regarding the issue of the price and cost of biodegradable plastics, many insiders believe that as the domestic biodegradable plastics industry enters a stage of rapid expansion of production capacity and rising consumer demand, it is believed that from the source of production to the consumer terminal, the entire industry will reach a consensus on environmentally friendly materials. , The market demand and production scale will become larger and larger, and the production cost of biodegradable plastics will become lower and lower.
“China’s biodegradable plastics market is huge. The raw material production capacity previously reserved cannot meet the market supply 100% in the first time, and the construction of raw material production capacity is significantly slower than the construction of product processing capacity, which leads to the increase in raw material prices. The construction of high-quality raw material production capacity is particularly critical, and it is also the most difficult step. When the production capacity level continues to meet consumer demand, the cost will further drop and the price will return to rationality.” said Yuan Zhimin, chairman of Kingfa Technology.
"To reduce the cost of biodegradable plastic products, on the one hand, companies need to insist on technological progress and product innovation, on the other hand, they also need to continuously expand the market application and strengthen the awareness of plastic restriction of many parties. In this regard, relevant departments and organizations should increase environmental protection. Moral education makes consumers’ active choices compelling businesses.” Tang Dajie, a visiting researcher at the Finance, Taxation and Law Research Center of Wuhan University, suggested that in the process, the government will strengthen legislation and enforcement of plastic restrictions and introduce subsidies for biodegradable plastics. Important.