This represents both an opportunity and a challenge for the chemical industry. If the supporting chemical products want to open up new market shares in this field, they need to increase the development and promotion of related materials.
The upgrading of plastic packaging and technological progress is highly dependent on the support of chemical products, functionalisation, greening and reduction have become the direction pursued by the plastic packaging industry, with the supporting chemical products will also usher in more opportunities for development.
Functionalisation.
The use of more than 30% of the demand for special materials is increasing rapidly
According to Chen Changjie, deputy director and secretary-general of the Expert Committee of the Plastics Committee of the China Packaging Federation and secretary-general of the Green Packaging Committee of the Shanghai Packaging Technology Association, it is estimated that plastic packaging materials now account for more than 30% of the total volume of various packaging materials, second only to paper products. At present, China's food packaging materials, plastic applications have exceeded 50% of the total food packaging materials, ranking the top of various packaging materials.
"At present, the development of China's plastic packaging industry has reached a critical period, the downstream industry for plastic packaging film materials will also put forward more and more demanding requirements, in the case of a large surplus of ordinary film, some high value-added functional film still need to be imported in large quantities. The demand for matte films, high gloss films, heat sealing films, heat shrink films, high barrier films, anti-UV radiation films, anti-static films, flame retardant films, etc. in the industrial sector is growing faster." Wang Dejun, secretary-general of the BOPET (biaxially oriented polyester) Special Committee of the China Plastics Processing Industry Association, said.
And in the food industry, the role played by plastic packaging is not to be underestimated. Beijing Printing Institute key laboratory packaging research director Li Dongli said, China is a large producer and consumer of fruits and vegetables, but also the highest rate of decay in the world. The loss rate of fruits and vegetables in developed countries is less than 5%, while the loss rate in China is as high as 20% to 30%. There is a large market for functional preservation materials in our country. At present, the United States uses advanced preservation material packaging can make the fruit value-added 2.4 times, while the average value-added in China is only 0.4 times. The future of functional freshness packaging has good market prospects in our country.
"In the future, the food industry will have an increasing demand for functional films such as high barrier, steaming resistance, UV resistance, light avoidance, antibacterial, breathable and oxygen insulation. And in functional food packaging special materials and functional additives, China's R & D and production capacity is still relatively weak, increase the development of related materials both for the packaging industry or the chemical industry will be a win-win situation." Chen Changjie said.
Greening.
Environmental safety requirements to upgrade the relevant additives will soon be hot
With the increased awareness of safety and environmental standards, consumers are increasingly concerned about the health and safety performance of plastic packaging. To protect the health and safety performance of plastic packaging materials depends on the wide application of various types of green and safe plastic additives. Therefore, industry experts say that safe and environmentally friendly plasticizers, heat stabilizers, adhesives, solvent-free inks/water-based inks, etc. will become hot products in the market in the next few years.
Jiang Pingping, a professor at Jiangnan University's School of Chemical and Materials Engineering, said that since the 1990s, a number of international regulations relating to phthalate plasticisers have been introduced to restrict their application in plastic products with high hygiene requirements. China's Hygienic Standard for the Use of Additives in Food Containers and Packaging Materials (GB9685-2008) also limits the migration of certain plasticisers, replacing phthalate plasticisers with environmentally friendly plasticisers such as vegetable oils and fats is the trend. As environmental standards improve, the market for non-toxic and safe plasticizers will grow.
The greening of plastic packaging is not only reflected in the products themselves, but also in the volatile organic pollutants (VOCs) emitted during the production process, which are subject to increasingly stringent restrictions. With the implementation of China's Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution, plastic packaging printing companies are facing a serious challenge. "There is no doubt that the future of packaging inks containing benzene and ketones is definitely no longer available, the market direction of development is water-based inks, solvent-free inks and UV-curable inks and other products. However, there is still a shortage of these new products in China, both in terms of variety and quantity to meet market demand." Chen Yu, head of the expert group of the CFPA laminated film committee, said.
Reduction.
To eradicate "white pollution" biodegradable plastics are favored
Packaging materials are mostly disposable products with a short life span. In order to reduce the impact of packaging waste (commonly known as "white pollution") on the environment, the reduction of waste has become one of the directions of development of plastic packaging. In the process of reduction, biodegradable materials have taken the lead.
Weng Yunxuan, secretary-general of the National Technical Committee for the Standardisation of Bio-based Materials and Degradable Products, said that as environmental problems become increasingly serious, the application of biodegradable materials in packaging has received more and more respect and attention, and the demand for biodegradable materials in developed countries such as Europe and the United States has been maintaining rapid growth in recent years.
According to the latest research report by ASD, the market demand for biodegradable plastic packaging will maintain a double-digit CAGR from 2013 to 2019, and the global biodegradable plastic packaging market will be worth more than US$8.415 billion by 2019. The report predicts that food and beverage packaging will be the largest major application area for biodegradable plastics, with PLA and starch-based plastics continuing to dominate the biodegradable plastic packaging market, accounting for more than 70% of biodegradable plastics used in food packaging.
Industry insiders said that compared with petroleum-based polymer materials, the biodegradable materials currently produced in China are mainly used for export due to their higher cost. With the improvement of environmental protection regulations and the enhancement of consumers' environmental awareness, the domestic biodegradable plastic products packaging market scale is also expanding, and the "13th Five-Year Plan" period will usher in more development opportunities for biodegradable materials.
