The plastic packaging industry is developing towards functionalization, greening and reduction, which is both an opportunity and a challenge for the chemical industry. If supporting chemical products want to open up new market share in this field, they need to strengthen the development and promotion of related materials. Plastic packaging is not only an opportunity but also a challenge for the chemical industry. As one of the most direct downstream industries in the petrochemical industry, the upgrading and technological progress of plastic packaging highly depends on the support of chemical products. At the same time, with the improvement of people's living standards and the growing demand for individualized consumption, plastic packaging has put forward higher and higher requirements for chemical products. Functionalization, greening and reduction have become the direction of the plastic packaging industry, and the matching chemical products will also usher in more development opportunities.
First、Functionalization:
Demand for special materials, which account for more than 30% of usage, is increasing rapidly
According to Chen Changjie, Deputy Director and Secretary-General of the Expert Committee of the Plastic 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 account for more than 30% of the total amount of various packaging materials, second only to paper products. At present, the application of plastics in food packaging materials in China has exceeded 50% of the total amount of food packaging materials, ranking first among all kinds of packaging materials.
"At present, the development of China's plastic packaging industry has reached a critical period, the downstream industry will also put forward more and more stringent requirements for plastic packaging film materials, in the case of a large surplus of ordinary membranes, some high-value-added functional membranes still need to be imported in large quantities. Demand for matt film, high brightness film, heat sealing film, heat shrinkable film, high barrier film, anti-ultraviolet radiation film, anti-static film, flame retardant film and so on has increased rapidly in the industrial field. Wang Dejun, Secretary-General of BOPET Special Committee of China Plastic Processing Industry Association, said.
In the food industry, the role of plastic packaging can not be underestimated. Li Dongli, director of the packaging research department of the Key Laboratory of Beijing Printing University, said that China is a major producer and consumer of fruits and vegetables, but the decay rate is also the highest in the world. The loss rate of fruits and vegetables in developed countries is less than 5%, while that in China is as high as 20%-30%. Functional fresh-keeping materials have a large market in our country. At present, the use of advanced fresh-keeping materials packaging in the United States can increase the value of fruits by 2.4 times, while the average value of fruits in China is only 0.4 times. In the future, functional fresh-keeping packaging has a good market prospect in China.
"In the future, the demand for high barrier, anti-cooking, anti-ultraviolet, light-shielding, anti-bacterial, breathable, oxygen-insulating and other functional membranes in the food industry will continue to increase. In terms of functional food packaging materials and functional additives, China's R&D and production capacity is still relatively weak. Increasing the development of related materials will be a win-win situation for both packaging industry and chemical industry. Chen Changjie said.
Second、 Greening:
Environmental Safety Requirements Upgrade Related Auxiliaries Will Be Hot Selling
With the enhancement of safety awareness and environmental protection standards, consumers pay more and more attention to the hygienic and safety performance of plastic packaging. To ensure the hygienic and safety performance of plastic packaging materials, it is necessary to rely on the wide application of various green and safe plastic additives. Therefore, industry experts say that safe and environmentally friendly plasticizers, thermal stabilizers, adhesives, solvent-free ink/water-based ink and other products will become popular in the market in the next few years.
Jiang Pingping, a professor at the School of Chemistry and Material Engineering of Jiangnan University, said that since the 1990s, many regulations related to phthalate plasticizers have been issued internationally, limiting their application in plastics products with high hygienic requirements. In China's "Hygienic Standards for the Use of Additives in Food Containers and Packaging Materials" (GB9685-2008), the migration of some plasticizers is also limited. It is a general trend to replace phthalate plasticizers with environmental friendly plasticizers such as vegetable oils. With the improvement of environmental protection standards, the market usage of non-toxic and safe plasticizers will increase.
Third、 Reduction:
The "white pollution" biodegradable plastics are favored. Packaging materials are mostly disposable products with short life. In order to reduce the impact of packaging waste (commonly known as "white pollution") on the environment, waste reduction treatment has become one of the development directions of plastic packaging. In the process of reduction, biodegradable materials play a leading role.
According to the latest research report of ASD Company, the market demand of biodegradable plastic packaging maintained a double-digit annual growth rate from 2013 to 2019, and the global market value of biodegradable plastic packaging will exceed 8.415 billion US dollars by 2019. The report predicts that food and beverage packaging will be the largest major application areas of biodegradable plastics. Polylactic acid and starch-based plastics will continue to dominate the market of biodegradable plastics packaging, accounting for more than 70% of the biodegradable plastics used in food packaging. Due to the high cost, biodegradable materials produced in China are mainly used for export. With the improvement of environmental protection regulations and the enhancement of consumers'awareness of environmental protection, the domestic biodegradable plastic packaging market is also expanding. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, biodegradable materials will usher in more development opportunities.
Zibo Tianheng Nano-materials Technology Co., Ltd. is the best plastic sheet and film R&D manufacturer in China. It constantly increases R&D costs, keeps up with the trend of world advanced enterprises, and is committed to leading the domestic industry.