Eco-plastic are high-tech materials that use sunlight and carbon dioxide as energy and carbon sources, such as starch and cellulose, and are converted into polymers through biotechnology. After the eco-plastic are used up, they can decompose quickly in nature, that is, they can achieve biodegradation and will not pollute the environment.

Introduction

The dual pressures of sustainable development and environmental protection have increased the demand for completely biodegradable materials, and some companies have also made active efforts in the research and development of eco-plastic.

Plastic, as people usually say, are produced by chemical synthesis using petroleum as the basic raw material. As the global supply of petroleum resources becomes increasingly tight and the "white pollution" caused by the long-term inability of plastic to decompose themselves has attracted more and more attention, eco-plastic made of plants as raw materials have come into being.

After the traditional plastic made of petroleum are burned, the carbon dioxide originally stored in the petroleum will be released, leading to global warming. However, eco-plastic use plants that grow by absorbing carbon dioxide in the existing atmosphere. Even after burning, the total amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will not change.

Production

This eco-plastic, known as "green material", was born with the development of genetic engineering technology. American biologists implanted two foreign genes into mustard plants and hybridized these plants with offspring carrying the two genes. As a result, a decomposable plastic substance, polyalkyl butyric acid, was produced in the leaves of mustard plants. Swiss scientists used biotechnology to cultivate bacteria that can produce plastic in the laboratory. There is a plastic sphere in the body of this bacterium. After separating this sphere and irradiating it with an electron beam, a rubber-like substance can be obtained, and its performance will not change within the temperature range of -20¡æ to 170¡æ.

Today, research on carbon transfer from beets, sugarcane, potatoes and many other crops has achieved results and produced polyalkyl butyric acid. Eco-plastic have entered the practical stage from the experimental stage and have begun to be used in surgical operations and food packaging. Toyota of Japan tried its own developed eco-plastic on automotive materials. The 2000 Sydney Olympics used a large amount of eco-plastic. The research and development and production of eco-plastic in China are in the ascendant. In just one professional conference on this material, among the 10 foreign companies and 3 Chinese companies that attended, the largest annual production capacity has reached 140,000 tons, and the smallest has 1,000 tons.

Application

The development of eco-plastic in China has been tortuous. The initial eco-plastic products were blends of starch with polypropylene, polyethylene and polystyrene, which were only partially biodegradable, and because they were more expensive than ordinary plastic, it was not easy to promote and apply them. With the development of the economy, China's plastic consumption has continued to grow. At present, the apparent consumption of plastic has exceeded 30 million tons. At the same time, the supply pressure of oil has also increased, and "white pollution" has become an unavoidable problem.

The dual pressures of sustainable development and environmental protection have increased the demand for fully biodegradable materials, which in turn has promoted the development of biodegradable materials. Using biochemical technology, the technology for producing eco-plastic in China has matured, and a variety of fully biodegradable plastic products have been launched, including all-starch plastic, soy protein plastic, polylactic acid and polyhydroxyalkanoates. Although the first two products are cheap, they have poor processability and limited development space. Polylactic acid has good processability and good mechanical and physical properties. Its application will become more and more extensive. It can be processed into various plastic products from industrial to civilian use, and can also be processed into polylactic acid fibers to make ecological clothing. At the same time, due to its good compatibility and degradability, it is also widely used in the medical field. Polyhydroxyalkanoates are polyesters synthesized by microorganisms. Due to their many excellent properties such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, and piezoelectricity, they are widely used in many fields such as biodegradable packaging materials, tissue engineering materials, sustained-release materials, and electrical materials. Therefore, they are attracting widespread interest in the scientific research field and the industrial community.

Problems

A new material cannot be perfect. There are still many problems with ecological plastic. Compared with traditional plastic, its production cost is high. From the ecological plastic developed by Toyota for automobiles, it is relatively poor in heat resistance and impact resistance, and there are many unsolvable problems in processing, such as the inability to be injection molded. Toyota has also taken improvement measures for this purpose. For example, in the eco-plastic used to make spare tire covers, a plant called kenaf is mixed to improve its heat resistance and impact resistance.

The development of eco-plastic in China has experienced a tortuous road. The initial eco-plastic products were blends of starch with polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, etc. They were only partially biodegradable, and because they were more expensive than traditional plastic, it was not easy to promote and apply them. The dual pressures of sustainable development and environmental protection have increased the demand for completely biodegradable materials. Some Chinese companies have also made active efforts in the research and development of eco-plastic. Relevant experts believe that the large-scale use of eco-plastic in the 2000 Sydney Olympics promoted the industrialization of eco-materials. China is facing a serious shortage of oil and environmental pollution. If it can take advantage of the opportunity to vigorously develop and apply eco-plastic, it will play a positive role in forming a circular economy, saving resources and protecting the environment.

Prospects

The "Proposal of the CPC Central Committee on the Formulation of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development" pointed out that it is necessary to "adhere to economical development, clean development, safe development, and achieve sustainable development." The dual pressures of sustainable development and environmental protection have increased the demand for completely biodegradable materials. Eco-plastic, especially the research and development of eco-plastic made from plants, will receive much attention.

Eco-plastic made from plants are a high-tech material that uses sunlight and carbon dioxide as energy and carbon sources, such as starch and cellulose, and is converted into polymers through biotechnology. Traditional plastic made from petroleum will release a large amount of carbon dioxide and toxic substances after burning. However, the raw materials of eco-plastic are plants that grow by absorbing carbon dioxide in the existing atmosphere. Even after burning, the total amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will not change. At the same time, eco-plastic can decompose quickly in nature, that is, they can be biodegraded, and will not pollute the environment.

With the transformation of economic growth mode, developing a circular economy and protecting the ecological environment have become a basic national policy of China. The development and production of eco-plastic in China is still in its initial stage, but relevant experts believe that this is a "sunrise" industry with a very broad prospect. Vigorously developing and applying eco-plastic will definitely play a positive role in forming a circular economy, saving resources and protecting the environment.

Industry

"Plastic Restriction Order" ushered in spring for ecological plastic

The "Plastic Restriction Order" came into effect on June 1, 2008. In Zhongshan alone, some small private plastic bag factories have idled more than 50% of their production capacity, and may eventually withdraw from the plastic bag manufacturing industry. The plastic packaging industry generally believes that after the plastic restriction, it is not easy to launch non-woven fabrics that can replace plastic bags or turn to industrial bags as a safe haven. The former faces the pressure of high investment, while the latter has the hidden worries of market saturation and excessive competition.

According to foreign experience, the paid use system will reduce the overall use of plastic shopping bags by about 2/3. Based on this, some people believe that under the general environment of soaring oil prices, rising raw material prices, and appreciation of the RMB, the plastic restriction order may become the last straw that crushes small plastic packaging companies, and the entire plastic packaging industry will accelerate the "reshuffle".

The 20th century was the century of steel, and the 21st century will be the century of plastic. As the fourth largest material after wood, cement and steel, plastic will be more widely used in people's daily life and related fields. However, the widespread use of plastic also faces great challenges, the first of which is environmental issues. The strong implementation of the "plastic ban" is a signal worth pondering.

For the entire plastic bag production industry, the "plastic ban" is not only a challenge, but also an opportunity. On January 1, 2007, the national standard "Definition, Classification, Labeling and Degradation Performance Requirements of Degradable Plastic" was implemented. If this is a driving force for the country to promote the development of the environmentally friendly plastic bag industry, then the current "plastic ban" is an external pressure. For the biological and degradable plastic bag production industry, there is no doubt that the "plastic ban" has brought them spring. For example, non-woven fabrics have ushered in new business opportunities with the "plastic ban". Since the introduction of the "plastic ban", the share price of Xinlong Holdings, the leading non-woven fabric manufacturer in China, has performed strongly, rising by more than 50% in just one week. Now, some plastic production industries have "aimed" at the golden business opportunity of the non-woven industry and are planning to switch production.

Eco-plastic were born in the 1990s. In less than 20 years, they have gradually formed an industrial layout of a certain scale, especially in Europe, America, Japan and other regions, where a relatively mature industrial chain has been established. Royal Shell Petroleum Company of the United Kingdom once estimated that in the first 50 years of the 21st century, biomass will provide 30% of the world's chemicals and fuels, and can achieve sales revenue of 150 billion US dollars. In China, the output of petroleum-based plastic packaging materials alone exceeds 3.5 million tons, accounting for about 18% of the total plastic output. If biomass plastic are used instead, sales revenue of more than 40 billion yuan can be achieved.

Eco-plastic packaging and eco-plastic bags have indisputable investment value. However, high prices are the real bottleneck that restricts the large-scale application of eco-plastic. Around 2000, nearly 100 environmentally friendly alternative plastic product manufacturers appeared in the country, but due to cost and other reasons, most of them have been suspended or semi-suspended. The rapid development of eco-plastic requires not only the attention and guidance of the government, but also the pressure of the social environment and the pull of market demand.

Plastic raw material prices have generally skyrocketed. Following the trend of rising crude oil prices, the price of ordinary plastic will be close to that of ecological plastic. With the large-scale production of ecological plastic, the price advantage of ordinary plastic will gradually be broken. For the plastic packaging and plastic bag production industries, they should speed up the development of downstream products, actively cooperate with the international community, introduce advanced foreign production technologies on the basis of independent innovation, and use the market to drive the industrialization and scale of ecological plastic. For the government, it should formulate and improve industry standards for environmentally friendly plastic products as soon as possible. At the same time, through tax incentives, subsidies and other means, support should be given to enterprises that develop and produce environmentally friendly plastic products. Strong enterprises should be supported to go public. For enterprises that cannot switch to the production of environmentally friendly plastic in the short term, certain taxes should be levied, and even penalties should be imposed, and they should be eliminated if necessary.

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