Plastics industry calls for deeper change Biomaterials breed huge market prospects

The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that high-quality development is the primary task of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way
.
Entering a new era and new journey, the people put forward higher requirements for a good ecological environment and physical health, and urgently need to make greater efforts
in the leapfrog development of the industry.

As a great invention in human history, plastics, with their excellent performance and low cost, have become the basic materials of modern economic and social development together with steel, wood, cement, etc.
, and have become an indispensable part of
our lives.
However, more and more plastic waste has caused certain problems
to the ecological environment.
Especially in recent years, with the deepening of research, it has been found that from the depths of the ocean to the summit of Mount Everest, from tap water to fish and even mammals, "microplastics" (plastic particles less than 5 mm in diameter) have quietly entered the ecosystem and entered the human body through the food chain, and may endanger human health
.

As the world's largest producer and consumer of plastics, plastic pollution control is not only a "key small matter" related to the vital interests of the masses, but also a "national matter"
related to the construction of ecological civilization.
Therefore, the plastics industry calls for deeper change
.

Quality upgrading solves not only the problem of pollution

For a long time, China has spared no effort
in plastic pollution control.
Since the promulgation of the "plastic restriction order" in 2008, relevant policies and actions have been intensively introduced
for more than 10 years.
In particular, in January 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued the Opinions on Further Strengthening Plastic Pollution Control, making comprehensive arrangements for plastic pollution control; In September 2021, the "14th Five-Year Plan" plastic pollution control action plan proposed to use the intensity and breadth of full-chain governance to blow the clarion call for national plastic pollution rectification during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period.
.
.

However, it is undeniable that plastic pollution is not a "one-day cold", nor is it a "one-day effort"
to deal with it.
Especially with the development of new formats such as takeaway, express delivery, and e-commerce, the amount of disposable plastic products is increasing rapidly, and the demand for plastics in other fields is also high
.

In June 2022, China's first national think tank report on the concept and practice of plastic pollution control in China, jointly released by the National Development and Reform Commission and relevant institutes affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, showed that the cumulative global production of plastics from 1950 to 2017 was about 9.
2 billion tons, and it is expected that by 2050, the cumulative global plastic production will increase to 34 billion tons, and the annual plastic waste generation will be about 300 million tons
.

In this context, the state should increase the intensity of plastic restriction and ban, expand the scope of plastic restriction and ban, and adopt more comprehensive measures to make concerted efforts to completely solve the problem of
plastic pollution.

What is more concerning: with the development of the times, the plastic problem is not just a pollution problem
.
Plastic products are essentially converted from chemicals and fossil fuels
.
According to the "China Plastics Environmental Footprint Assessment" report, the plastics industry consumes 8% of the world's oil, and the plastic manufacturing stage alone (the transformation of resin into plastic products) produces 1% of global carbon emissions
.
If you consider the whole life cycle, the carbon emissions of plastic production and use account for 3.
8%
of global carbon emissions.

This means that telling the "Chinese story of plastic pollution control" is not only related to the people's pursuit of a better living environment, but also has a positive impact
on the green transformation of China's economy, the realization of carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals, and the promotion of international influence.

At present, China has gradually formed a plastic pollution control system
with Chinese characteristics that conforms to China's national conditions.
In addition to actively promoting the reduction of plastic production and use at the source, China is starting from the environmental impact and risk control of the whole life cycle of products, scientifically and steadily promoting plastic alternative products, accelerating the standardized recycling of plastic waste, and focusing on improving the level of safe disposal of plastic waste, especially committed to accelerating the development of recyclable, easy to recyclable and degradable new plastic economic models
.

Biomaterials are an important breakthrough

In this process, finding new breakthroughs from renewable raw materials has become an important way, and bio-based materials stand out
.

Bio-based materials use corn, cassava, straw and other crops or agricultural and forestry wastes as raw materials, and form a product called polylactic acid (PLA) through modern biological fermentation technology; Then use it as the main raw material to produce a variety of products
that replace traditional petroleum plastics and petrochemical fibers.

This material can be made into a variety of bioplastic dinner plates, lunch boxes, packaging bags, mulch films, etc.
, and even bedding, clothing, masks, air conditioning shells.
.
.

At the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, injection-molded tableware and disposable tableware for participants are made of bio-based materials, which also played an important
role as an important initiative of the Green Olympics.

Unlike traditional plastics, bio-based plastics do not contain bisphenol A and formaldehyde, and do not release toxic gases such as nitride and sulfide when incinerated; Under composting conditions, it can be degraded into carbon dioxide and water by microbial action within half a year; Moreover, when used in textiles, it can also be skin-friendly and moisture-proof, antibacterial and anti-mite, flame retardant and fireproof
.
Internationally, biomaterials have been praised by the industry as "a new industrial revolution in the field of polymer materials"
.

In the opinion of experts, bio-based plastics have more special significance
for China.

Li Shizhong, a professor at the Institute of Nuclear Energy and New Energy Technology of Tsinghua University, pointed out that China is a big agricultural country, rich in biomass resources, vigorously developing bioenergy is in line with national conditions, under the premise of ensuring the supply of grain and feed, by adjusting the planting structure and planting energy crops on marginal land, using straw to produce clean fuels and synthetic materials, it can not only reduce oil imports, but also drive agricultural development and rural revitalization
。 Especially under the "dual carbon" goal, the data shows that the carbon emissions of bio-based materials represented by polylactic acid in the entire life cycle are reduced by 80%-90% compared with petroleum-based materials, which can promote the country's gradual transformation
from oil economy to bioeconomy.

At present, China has made breakthroughs in technology, and has developed new material preparation technology for the whole industrial chain from corn to polylactic acid to downstream biodegradable plastics and fibers, becoming one of
the three countries that have mastered core technologies and equipment alongside the United States and the Netherlands 。 Taking Anhui Fengyuan Biotechnology Co.
, Ltd.
as an example, as a national innovative high-tech enterprise, the company can use corn and other grain crops or straw cellulose as raw materials to produce polylactic acid chips and downstream biological fibers and bioplastics, and has fully mastered the six core technologies from lactic acid bacteria preparation, fermentation, extraction and purification, polymerization, environmental protection fibers and environmental protection plastics, and has the production capacity
of the whole industrial chain 。 At the same time, the production line of 15,000 tons/year straw sugar co-production fulvic acid high-efficiency organic fertilizer project has been put into operation! It will change the production mode that mainly uses corn, cassava and other food crops in the past, and it is expected that the straw technology will be officially used in 2025 to fully produce polylactic acid, which will alleviate the long-standing problem
of straw recycling.

New technologies breed huge market prospects

In May 2022, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the 14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Bioeconomy (hereinafter referred to as the Plan), which is China's first five-year plan for the bioeconomy, reflecting the country's judgment on the direction of development and the importance it attaches to the industry
.

The "Plan" clearly proposes to develop the alternative application of biomass and cultivate a number of leading enterprises
.
The investment community is also generally optimistic about the prospects of the bioeconomy industry, believing that in the next 5 to 10 years, the bioeconomy will become a new economic development track
of trillions of yuan.

It is understood that the current production capacity of bio-based plastics is far from meeting the market demand, and its output accounts for less than 1% of all plastics, which contains huge development potential
.

Only in Bengbu, Anhui Province, where Fengyuan Biotechnology is located, around the downstream field of polylactic acid, Fengyuan Biotechnology has attracted more than 50 large and medium-sized key enterprises
in textile and garment, engineering plastics, medical plastics and other industries.
In 2021, the output value of Bengbu's bio-based new materials industry will exceed 50 billion yuan; It is expected that by 2025, it will exceed 300 billion yuan, helping the country reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 15 million tons
.

However, due to the new thing, the biofuel and bio-based materials industry still faces many problems, such as the difficulty of bio-based materials entering the market, the lack of unified national deployment and centralized investment, the imperfect relevant supporting policies and industrial development systems and mechanisms, and the need to further stimulate industrial vitality
.

Industry experts believe that in the future, we should pay close attention to the implementation of policies and regulations, pay attention to monitoring and supervision, and be determined to do a good job in reducing and recycling plastics at the source and from the source
.
In particular, it is necessary to strengthen scientific and technological empowerment and fiscal and tax support
.
On the one hand, set up national science and technology projects, break through key core technologies through key research and development plans, establish an industrialized technology system, and realize the rapid development
of the whole industrial chain cluster.
On the other hand, it will introduce supportive policies to guide industrial development, including subsidies, land, special funds, taxes, etc.
, to subsidize the scientific and technological research and development of enterprises using new material technology; In the early stage of industry development
, increase the promotion of high-quality traditional plastic alternative products.
In addition, we continue to improve relevant standards, such as the standard for replacing single-use plastic products with biodegradable plastics; Through pilots and demonstrations, relevant industrial bases can be established, the enthusiasm of farmers, relevant enterprises, scientific research institutions and governments at all levels can be mobilized, and experience can be obtained before being promoted
to the whole country.