The degradable plastics market broke out under the plastic ban, and "pseudo degradation" was also mixed

Paper straws, wooden tableware, biodegradable plastic bags.

"Completely in short supply!" A number of biodegradable plastic suppliers told China News Weekly that the current industry’s largest production supply is still unable to meet the concentrated outbreak of market demand.

This is the most strictly prohibited plastic order in China so far

"It is expected that by the end of 2021, the supply and demand situation of the degradable plastics market will be greatly improved

From long-term neglect to concentrated outbreak

From "plastic restriction" to "plastic ban", the policy is promoting the pace of penetration of degradable plastics to further accelerate

Under the plastic ban, degradable plastic bag products were the first to usher in an explosion of demand

"Starting from the end of 2020, we will receive calls from customers who want to order biodegradable plastic bags every day.

The doubling of costs is the main reason for the market to wait and see

The catering industry also holds a wait-and-see attitude

"For biodegradable straws, foreign countries ushered in an explosion of market demand as early as 2008, but domestic demand did not erupt until the end of 2020.

In fact, before the introduction of the ban on plastics, the domestic market for biodegradable plastics has been tepid

Many industry insiders told China News Weekly that the domestic biodegradable plastics industry did not start too late.

"At the end of 2018, a number of biodegradable product companies closed down because the market was oversupply and there was a serious overproduction

"Before the implementation of the plastic ban this year, the domestic demand for biodegradable materials was very small

After the market has waited and watched repeatedly, there is a concentrated outbreak of orders during the policy landing period

“In December 2020, our orders increased by 300% month-on-month, and we produced about 20 tons of biodegradable straws per day to supply the market, but the supply is still in short supply

"Plastic film bag products are a fixed peak season before the Spring Festival each year.
This year we have superimposed the plastic ban policy.
Our degradable plastic film bag output has increased by two or three times, and the supply is still in short supply
.
" Hao Jiahua said, "Current production equipment and raw materials There is a shortage of supply, and as a midstream processor, we cannot increase production quickly
.
"

The fiery heat of degradable products is quickly transmitted to the upstream degradable raw material market
.
At present, the main raw materials of degradable plastics such as PLA, PBS, and PBAT are in short supply, which has caused a 20% to 30% price increase
.

“At present, due to the severe imbalance between supply and demand, the entire chain of the biodegradable industry, from raw materials, processing to terminal retail prices, has seen a two- to three-fold price increase
.
” Ji Junhui, chief engineer of the National Engineering Research Center for Engineering Plastics, told China News Weekly "Take PBAT as an example.
In November 2020, the price was between 19,000 yuan and 20,000 yuan/ton.
Now the market price has exceeded 28,000 yuan/ton
.
However, it is foreseeable that after the production capacity of many enterprises and projects, market supply and demand will be eased.
The price will return to the rational range
.
"

Urgent lack of uniform standards

Under both policies and the market, the biodegradable plastics industry has a huge market space
.
The Huaan Securities Research Report pointed out that the nationwide ban on plastics promoted by China this time will stimulate the steady growth of domestic demand for biodegradable plastics
.
By 2025, the demand for degradable plastics in China is expected to be 2.
38 million tons, and the market size can reach 47.
7 billion yuan; by 2030, the demand is expected to be 4.
28 million tons and the market size can reach 85.
5 billion yuan
.

In the context of the serious imbalance between supply and demand in the biodegradable plastics market, due to the lack of unified production supervision standards in various regions, a batch of biodegradable plastic products of uneven quality have emerged in the market.
Circulate at the price of normal degradable plastic products
.
"The current level of development of biodegradable plastics in China is not lagging behind, but now there is a demand flashpoint.
The problem of rushing into the market and getting mixed up is an objective existence
.
" Wang Zhanjie, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of China Plastics Processing Industry Association To "China News Weekly" pointed out, "There are technical disputes about some new types of degradable materials, which are claimed to be degradable, but they cannot finally meet the degradation standard
.
"

Due to the huge price disparity between non-degradable and degradable materials, there are enough "business opportunities" in the middle ground
.
In a broad sense of degradable plastics, in addition to biodegradable plastics represented by PLA, PBS, and PBAT, there are also plastics that can be mechanically split, such as "pseudo-degradable" plastics such as photodegradation, ecological degradation, and thermal oxidative degradation
.

Photodegradable plastics refer to materials that automatically degrade under the action of light
.
Many photodegradable plastics add photosensitizer to the material, which becomes a smaller powder under light conditions
.
Other so-called degradable materials are added with a certain proportion of starch.
The physical properties of the material are collapsed through the biodegradation of starch.
The decomposed PE, PP, PVC, etc.
not only cannot be absorbed by the environment, but will remain invisible because it is invisible to the naked eye.
In the environment, cause greater harm
.

"These pseudo-degradable plastics are actually synthesized by traditional plastic materials + various additives, and the final actual degradation rate is low, which does not meet the needs of degradable products and biochemical standards
.
" Ji Junhui pointed out to China News Weekly, "To judge whether a material is To be degradable, we need to look at three indicators: relative degradation rate, final product, and heavy metal content
.
There is one item that does not meet the standard and cannot be regarded as a degradable material strictly
.
"

In fact, these "pseudo-degradable" plastics can be circulated on the market because the country has not yet issued a mandatory unified standard for degradable plastics
.
In the field of degradable plastics, the current product standards include GB/T 38082-2019 "Biodegradable Plastic Shopping Bags", GB/T 18006.
3-2020 "General Technical Requirements for Disposable Degradable Tableware", GB/T28018-2011 "Bio decomposition of plastic garbage bags "and so on
.
Some products use GB/T 21661-2008 "Plastic Shopping Bags", GB 4806.
7-2016 "Plastic Materials and Products for Food Contact" or corporate standards
.
Therefore, "degradable" plastics produced by different regions and companies using different standards generally suffer from different quality problems
.

Until September 2020, the "Guidelines for the Classification and Labeling of Degradable Plastic Products" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guide") formulated by the China National Light Industry Council clearly required that the biodegradation rate should be ≥90% and the content of heavy metals and specific elements Other conditions must be met at the same time to be considered as degradable plastic
.
At present, the "Guide" is the more recognized "Guidelines for the Classification and Labeling of Degradable Plastic Products" in the industry, but there are also certification specifications, such as who can use the "double j" logo and how to certify, which needs to be further improved
.

"At present, the "Guide" is only a staged document that guides industry standards, and a set of unified standards needs to be improved as soon as possible to resolve existing disputes and problems
.
" Wang Zhanjie said, "We need to be able to determine a kind of technology and methods.
Does the material belong to the category of degradable"
.

"I very much hope that the Ministry of Environmental Protection will issue nationally unified technical guidance standards and documents as soon as possible
.
The standards implemented by various provinces are now different, and the quality requirements are inconsistent between provinces, which will have a fatal blow to the industry
.
" Ji Junhui told China News Weekly "Said, "There are currently three problems: First, the coverage of the ban on plastics is far from reaching the policy requirements
.
Second, because there is no clear guidance on the definition of degradable and substitutes so far, the overall market situation is rather chaotic.

.
Third, due to short-term supply shortfalls, many manufacturers and merchants took the opportunity to drive up prices, which affected the industry’s ecology
.
"

Be wary of overheating the market

With the introduction and landing of the ban on plastics, companies related to degradable plastics have gained widespread attention in the secondary market
.
According to data from Oriental Wealth, since the emergence of the "degradable plastic" sector on January 20, 2020, the relevant index has risen by about 38% by January 25, 2021
.
Since the implementation of the new plastic restriction order on January 1, 2021, the stock prices of concept stocks such as Kingfa Technology, Jindan Technology, and COFCO Technology have risen by more than 10%
.
Among them, the biodegradable plastic leader Jinfa Technology will open at 26.
32 yuan per share on January 16, 2021, a record high in the past decade
.

Behind the stock price boom is the intensive layout of companies in the field of biodegradable plastics
.
As the only leading fully biodegradable plastics manufacturer in Asia that fully masters the core technologies of polymerization, modification and end-use applications, Kingfa Technology announced in the first half of 2020 that it is stepping up the construction of new production capacity and developing new biodegradable plastics for application in more fields.
It is estimated that the new production capacity of the 60,000-ton PBAT (polyadipate/butylene terephthalate) production line under construction will be put into operation in 2021
.

"Compared with the same period last year, our production in January this year has increased tenfold
.
It is estimated that by the end of this year, our production capacity will reach 180,000 tons
.
" The production technology requirements are very strict in the industry, and the production qualification rate has been very stable
.
However, not all companies in all regions of the country are producing in accordance with such strict requirements, so the strict production capacity in the market is actually not enough
.
"

Not only the industry leader
.
Hengli Petrochemical Co.
, Ltd.
announced this year that it signed a project with an annual output of 600,000 tons of PBS-type biodegradable plastics, which is also the largest and most productive degradable new material project in China
.
At the same time, two companies under construction in Shandong that intend to start construction have also announced plans to produce 300,000 tons of PBAT per year.
It is expected that Sichuan Guangan Hongyuan Technology Co.
, Ltd.
’s 100,000 tons PBAT project and Shandong Rui'an Biotechnology Co.
, Ltd.
will be put into operation this year.
60,000-ton PBAT project and Zhuhai Wantong 60,000-ton project
.
In addition, Jindan Technology and Changhong Hi-Tech, the two companies that have just landed in the A-share market in 2020, have also deployed biodegradable plastics
.
On December 29, 2020, Sinopec Group Capital Co.
, Ltd.
became a shareholder of Hisun Biotech, which specializes in the production of polylactic acid (PLA), and deployed high-end polylactic acid (PLA) degradable materials
.

New entrants are flooding in
.
According to the data from the professional version of Tianyancha, there are nearly 8,400 biodegradable companies in the country that currently have “biodegradable, photodegradable, chemically degradable, and degradable” in their business scope, and their status is active, surviving, moving in or moving out
.
Among them, nearly 2,300 new biodegradable companies will be added in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 38%
.

"According to the current development trend, the possibility of serious overproduction by the end of 2022 is very high
.
" Ji Junhui said bluntly, "Currently, the production capacity of projects that have been established and intentionally established is already very large.
If you still blindly advocate shortages and allow hot money to flow in, it is likely to be Disrupt the industry
.
There are already some companies that are hitting hot spots in the capital market and profiting from it
.
"

In fact, the market’s over-focused degradable plastic products are just one of the solutions to plastic pollution called for by the plastic ban
.
The "Opinions on Further Strengthening the Treatment of Plastic Pollution" pointed out that one of the basic principles is to be recyclable, easy to recycle, and degradable, to develop and promote plastic products and alternative products that meet the standards, green and environmentally friendly, and economical and applicable, and cultivate good standards.
Recycling and recycling, reducing plastic pollution in new business and new models
.

"Accelerating the establishment and realization of high-quality recycling of recycled plastics is a solution that deserves more attention
.
" Wang Zhanjie, vice chairman and secretary-general of the China Plastics Processing Industry Association, told China News Weekly, "In the past, China also needed to import from abroad.
Importing 5 million to 8 million tons of waste plastics per year consumes a lot of resources
.
Now China no longer imports waste plastics, and it can digest 8 million to 10 million tons of domestic waste plastics each year to complete resource reuse
.
But at present, waste plastics The two links of recycling and reproduction of high-quality plastics need to be strengthened.
This will play a great role in the treatment of domestic plastic waste and is more in line with the original intention of the ban on plastics
.
"