Two new regulations for biodegradable plastics have been implemented

Since June 1, two new regulations, "Biodegradable Plastics and Products Degradation Performance and Labeling Requirements" and "Biodegradable Drinking Straws", have been officially implemented
.

"The original and clear source is an important reason for the introduction of the new regulations
.
"

Reinventing the Definition of Biodegradable Plastics

Pang Guanglian, member of the Standing Committee and Deputy Secretary General of the Party Committee of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, and Secretary General of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry International Production Capacity Cooperation Enterprise Alliance, said that the formulation and implementation of national standards have provided a programmatic document for the biodegradable plastics industry.
It will also help to regulate the investment behavior of upstream 1,4-butanediol (BDO) and other industries in the industry.
It is hoped that the new regulations can restrain the development trend of the upstream and downstream impulses of the industry chain
.

Pang Guanglian said that the national standard "Biodegradable Plastics and Products Degradation Performance and Labeling Requirements" (GB/T 41010-2021) provides terms and definitions such as biodegradation and biodegradation rate, and specifies the requirements for degradation performance, labeling and labeling requirements.
inspection method
.
"At present, there are too many new production capacity under the banner of biodegradable plastics in China
.
In response to this upsurge, the new regulations reshape the definition of biodegradable plastics, the purpose is to guide the healthy development of the industry
.
" Pang Guanglian said
.

Several BDO installations have been launched

It is understood that the huge blue ocean market behind the degradable plastics industry has attracted investors to enter the market
.
The projects most launched by domestic companies in this field are polylactic acid (PLA) and copolymers of butylene adipate and butylene terephthalate (PBAT)
.
Among them, the planned production capacity of the PBAT project alone has exceeded 10 million tons, which has also driven the price increase of its upstream BDO and the hot construction of the project
.
The ton price of BDO once rose from more than 7,000 yuan to more than 30,000 yuan, and is still at a high of 26,000 yuan
.

Driven by high BDO prices, since this year alone, several BDO installations have been launched in Guangxi, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and other provinces
.

Overcapacity, contrary to the original intention of environmental protection

Pang Guanglian said that according to the current situation, it only takes less than 4 million tons of degradable plastics per year to completely replace domestic disposable plastic products, not to mention that many disposable plastic products are difficult to replace
.
Moreover, biodegradable plastics are still controversial internationally.
In the final version of the "Guidelines for Disposable Plastics" promulgated by the European Union, all oxidatively degradable plastics are prohibited
.
The first reason is that some degradable plastics require a certain temperature and humidity to complete the degradation
.
Secondly, some companies currently use starch, photooxidants, etc.
to make plastics that are not easy to degrade into small pieces in a short period of time, but these invisible "plastic microbeads" scattered in the environment are more harmful
.
Again, based on the premise that plastics are "degradable", it will lead to an increase in their usage instead of a decrease
.

Pang Guanglian pointed out: "Investors are rushing into the field of degradable plastics.
Once overcapacity occurs in the future, it will not only violate the original intention of environmental protection, but may also cause greater waste
.
Moreover, BDO is produced from petroleum, and the production process is also high in energy consumption and high cost.
pollution
.
"

Pang Guanglian believes that the impact of degradable plastic projects including PBAT on the environment should be considered from the whole life cycle
.
If the corresponding infrastructure does not keep up, blindly pushing away the relevant product definitions and standards when the relevant product definitions and standards are still unclear, it will cause a lot of chaos in the industry
.

"The original and clear source is an important reason for the introduction of the new regulations
.
" Pang Guanglian emphasized
.