Non-woven fabric, paper, bamboo and wood can be used as a substitute for disposable plastic products
- "plastic limit" can not be "one-size-fits-all", degradable plastics are not absolutely environmentally friendly
Experts said that after more than 100 years of production practice, plastic products have penetrated into all aspects of human life. At the beginning of plastic production is to facilitate use, so in the "plastic limit" at the same time, we should also pay attention to the development and production of new environmental protection, pollution-free alternatives for consumers to choose.
According to statistics, in the retail and catering fields of the relevant regions involved in the phased goal of "plastic limit" by the end of 2020, the annual consumption of plastic products is about 300,000 tons. Zhang Lijun, vice president of the China Business Federation, said that non-woven fabrics, paper, bamboo and other alternatives have sufficient raw materials, and the annual supply of degradable plastics is about 400,000 tons, and the alternative product capacity can effectively meet consumer demand.
However, Zhang Lijun also pointed out that not all plastic products should be restricted. "One-time use is characterized by convenience, but one-time use also depends on necessity." Disposable products used in medical situations such as infusion and injection are necessary for life safety, but disposable tableware is clearly not necessary."
In the field of packaging, the use of plastic products is common. Guo Zhenmei, director of the China Export Commodity Packaging Research Institute, pointed out that with the promotion and application of the "plastic limit order", some plastic packaging can be gradually reduced by reducing design and selecting alternatives. "At present, the research and development of many new materials and new containers in the packaging field can reduce the use of traditional plastics, achieve the purpose of reduction and lightweight, so as to support the technical level of 'plastic limit'." For example, the "Tetra Pak Peak" packaging developed by Tetra Pak Company, its plastic film and lid are polymerized from sugarcane extract, and the whole package has a superior ratio of renewable raw materials and carbon footprint than ordinary packaging; Jingdong, Suning and other enterprises have also launched recyclable express packaging boxes in recent years, and gradually replaced traditional plastic bags through the improvement of product research and development technology and recycling management system."
The emergence of biodegradable plastics is seen as a tool to combat plastic pollution, especially to solve the environmental pollution problem of plastic food contact materials such as disposable straws. China's biodegradable food contact material industry is facing good prospects for development, but some of the public and the industry's understanding of the concept of biodegradable plastics is not clear. Lu Qian, a researcher at the National Key Laboratory for the Detection of Food Contact Materials, stressed that whether a plastic will be completely biodegradable is affected by many factors such as crystallinity, additives, microorganisms, temperature, and length of time. "In the absence of conditions, many degradable plastics not only cannot achieve complete biodegradation, but also may have a negative impact on the environment and human health, such as degradation into invisible plastic particles." It can be seen that biodegradable plastics are not a panacea for plastic pollution, and their advantages and roles can only be leveraged if they are used responsibly."
For the public concern about the price and cost of alternatives, Weng Yunxuan, secretary general of the degradable Plastics Professional Committee of the China Plastics Processing Industry Association and dean of the School of Chemistry and Materials Engineering of Beijing Technology and Business University, said that the current alternative products of plastic products are still in the early stage of industrial development, small and dispersed, and require a lot of research and development, equipment and test investment, relatively high cost. "With the gradual advancement of plastic pollution control work, I believe that from the source of production to the consumer terminal, the whole industry will reach a consensus on environmentally friendly materials, market demand and production scale will be larger and larger, the production cost of alternative products will be lower and lower, and the price of related products is expected to become cheaper and cheaper." (Reporter Zhang Yaxiong)