Bio-based technology development and application of biodegradable material into a hot industry focus

From 1 June this year, our country provides the thickness of plastic shopping bags not less than 0.025mm, the national industrial policy have begun to support bio-degradable and bio-based materials development, European countries have introduced policies to promote the application of bio-degradable plastic. In the global energy shortage, environmental degradation under the pressure, bio-based biodegradable materials and the development and application are therefore particularly look forward to.

    October 13 to 15, the third bio-based and biodegradable materials technology and application of the international symposium held in Beijing. From the United States, Japan, Korea, European Union, more than 10 countries, experts, and Chinese manufacturing enterprises, research institutes, universities and other representatives together to promote the field on how to research and development, production, application, testing and standards system, and improve topic in-depth discussion.

    The so-called biodegradable material, refers to a polymer through biotechnology into high-tech materials, products will degrade completely in the drop into water and CO2, the main raw material source is sunlight, and CO2 as energy and carbon source of starch and cellulose and other renewable resources.

    European Bioplastics Association statistics, as of August 2007, the global annual production capacity of biodegradable plastics has reached 315,000 tons; 2010 the amount of biodegradable plastics will reach 1,400,000 tons. In biodegradable materials, renewable resources, biodegradable plastics material base percentage is expected to account for more than 90%.

    The biodegradable material development in China, has also gone through a very tortuous process. To biodegradable plastics, for example, initially known as biodegradable plastic. The product is starch and polypropylene, polyethylene and polystyrene blends synthetic plastic, they can only partially degraded, can not resolve the problem of white pollution, and the cost is much higher than ordinary plastic, it has not been widely application.

    As technology advances, people have more biodegradable plastics understanding. In recent years, biodegradable plastics has a clear definition of line with international standards and corresponding standards, test methods, and long-term development planning framework and the national “Eleventh Five-Year” development plan, will be the development of biodegradable plastics industry as one important component.

    At the same time, China biodegradable plastics development and production have been developed, production increased rapidly, especially based on renewable materials, the development of biodegradable plastics is in full swing.

    ”In 2003, China’s use of biodegradable materials, about 15,000 tons, which does not add the starch of about 1,000 tons of biodegradable polymers.” Degradable plastics CPPIA Professional Committee chairman Xia Qing, for example, in 2007, actual production has been about 30,000 tons, annual output in 2010 and can reach 25 tons.

    As a new material, production cost and technology maturity are biodegradable materials that must be overcome barriers. Because of high production costs, over the past decade, the world’s biodegradable materials market has been the delay in large-scale launch. However, with the highest sustained oil price in recent years, synthetic resin prices have soared, making agricultural products as raw materials price of biodegradable plastics bottleneck evolution of the cost advantages, a number of international big business started to re-emphasis on the development of biodegradable materials, such as DuPont, Bayer, BASF have launched commercial applications of biodegradable materials.

    On the other hand, countries placed increasingly strict environmental regulations, but also promoted the application of biodegradable material. For example, Europe has developed the biodegradable plastic compost standard EN13432, to a biodegradable plastic of a unified monitoring and evaluation; Germany starting from June 2005 to enforce decrees packaging, plastic packaging to be recycled, but the biological composting or biological decomposition of plastic packaging plastic in May 28, 2005 to December 31, 2012 the transition period can be no recovery; French regulations from 2010 onwards, started to use biodegradable disposable retail bags; targeting the Japanese government in 2020, Japanese consumption of 20% of all plastic bags will come from renewable resources.

    Biodegradable materials in China has been in R & D and international synchronized. Since 2001, the National Centre for biodegradable plastic material Standardization Working Group began the formulation of a biodegradable material related to the detection methods, definitions and performance requirements of degradable plastics, degradable plastic sheet products, standards that are referred to international Standard. As of now, China and major international organizations have set up bio-plastics mutual recognition of testing and identification partnership.

    In this year’s Beijing Olympics, 5.7 million plastic bags used in all the biodegradable plastic bag. Such plastic bags discarded after 72 days can be broken down into carbon dioxide and water.

    In recent years, relevant scientific and technological personnel has been committed to the development and application of bio-plastics, biodegradable materials, production and development company formed the “biological basis” has become a global strong Army Corps. For example, Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd. Wuhan gorgeous starch biodegradable plastic developed (PSM) materials, plant starch, cellulose, bamboo powder, chitosan as the main raw material, through the modification of starch and other materials, and plastics, so that The set of rigidity, toughness and flexibility in one. It is reported that, PSM is the only European EN13432 standards through testing and certification of bio-degradable materials, the degradation of performance, performance, health indicators leading level internationally.

    Plants use sugar as starch storage, like many microbes in nature are called PHA polyester used to store energy. PHA can use good biocompatibility, biological materials Co., Ltd. Ningbo Tian not only gain a foothold in the international market and become the world’s largest manufacturer of raw materials PHA class; Zhejiang Hisun Biomaterials Co., Ltd. to produce 5,000 tons of PLA production capacity, top of polylactic acid for industrial production companies in the world.

    Under the banner of the circular economy, use of industrial production of carbon dioxide emissions as raw materials are carbon dioxide copolymer synthesis, is another type of biodegradable material. Inner Mongolia Mengxi Group and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun Applied Chemistry Institute, cement production using the carbon dioxide generated in the process, the production of carbon dioxide-based biodegradable plastics, and have built the world’s first continuous, closed the annual output of 3,000 tons of carbon dioxide-based biodegradable plastics pilot production line produced by a transparent plastic, biodegradable, incineration produces only carbon dioxide and water.

    Chinese enterprises have been standing with the international counterparts the same starting line.