Plastic packaging is both an opportunity and a challenge for the chemical industry

Functional:

The proportion of usage exceeds 30%, and the demand for special materials is increasing rapidly.

At present, the development of China's plastic packaging industry has reached a critical period. The downstream industry will also place more and more stringent requirements on plastic packaging film materials. In the case of a large excess of ordinary film, some high value-added functional films still need to be imported in large quantities. In the industrial field, the demand for matt film, high brightness film, heat sealing film, heat shrink film, high resistance film, ultraviolet radiation film, antistatic film, flame retardant film, etc. is increasing rapidly. In the food industry, the role of plastic packaging is not to be underestimated. China is a big country in the production and consumption of fruits and vegetables, but the rate of decay is also the highest 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%. Functional fresh-keeping materials have a large market in our country. At present, the use of advanced packaging materials in the United States can increase the value of fruits by 2.4 times, while the average value added in China is only 0.4 times. Future functionalized fresh-keeping packaging has a good market prospect in China.

In the future, the demand for functional films such as high barrier, retort resistance, UV resistance, light protection, antibacterial, ventilating and anaerobic will continue to increase in the food industry. In terms of functional food packaging materials and functional additives, China's R&D and production capacity are still relatively weak. Increasing the development of related materials will be a win-win situation for both the packaging industry and the chemical industry.

Green:

Environmental safety requirements upgrade related additives will soon be hot

With the enhancement of safety awareness and the improvement of environmental protection standards, consumers are paying more and more attention to the hygienic safety performance of plastic packaging. To ensure the hygienic 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 said that safe and environmentally friendly plasticizers, heat stabilizers, adhesives, solvent-free inks / water-based inks will become hot products in the market in the next few years.

Since the 1990s, a number of regulations related to phthalate plasticizers have been introduced internationally, limiting their use in plastic products with higher hygiene requirements. China's "Sanitary Standards for the Use of Additives for Food Containers and Packaging Materials" (GB9685-2008) also limits the migration of certain plasticizers, replacing phthalates with environmentally friendly plasticizers such as vegetable oils and fats. Plasticizers are the general trend. As environmental standards increase, the market use of non-toxic and safe plasticizers will increase.

The greening of plastic packaging is not only reflected in the product itself, but also the volatile organic pollutants (VOCs) emitted during the production process are subject to increasingly strict restrictions. With the implementation of China's "Air Pollution Prevention Action Plan", plastic packaging and printing enterprises face severe challenges. There is no doubt that the future benzene-containing ketone-containing packaging inks can no longer be used. The market development direction is water-based inks, solvent-free inks and UV-curable inks. However, at present, these new products are still in short supply in China, and neither the variety nor the quantity can meet the market demand.

Reduction:

Radical "white pollution" biodegradable plastic favored

Packaging materials are mostly disposable products with a short life span. In order to reduce the environmental impact of packaging waste (commonly known as “white pollution”), the reduction of waste has become one of the development directions of plastic packaging. In the process of reduction, biodegradable materials play a leading role. With the increasingly serious environmental problems, the application of biodegradable materials in packaging has been more and more respected and concerned. In recent years, the demand for biodegradable materials in developed countries such as Europe and the United States has maintained a rapid growth.

According to industry insiders, compared with petroleum-based polymer materials, biodegradable materials produced in China are mainly used for export due to high cost. With the improvement of environmental protection regulations and the increasing awareness of consumers' environmental protection, the domestic biodegradable plastic packaging market is also expanding, and biodegradable materials will usher in more development opportunities during the 13th Five-Year Plan period.