The development of degradable plastics is a must

On the whole, because of the complex production process of degradable plastics, it often encounters difficulties in the process of collection and recycling. It is the same as traditional plastics, but it may eventually enter waste landfills or incinerators, or pollute the marine environment. In addition, one-sided emphasis on its biodegradability may lead to the random disposal of related waste, pollution of recyclables, and the addition of biomass waste disposal costs. If the production of biodegradable plastics increases rapidly as expected by the profession, it will certainly increase the pressure on terrestrial environmental protection and cause environmental and social resistance.

The debates that have emerged around the world about whether biodegradable plastics should replace traditional plastics have actually obscured a real problem: the urgent need to reduce the use of all plastics, especially the excessive, unnecessary and disposable use of plastics. Excessive consumption and disposable culture are the root causes of plastic environmental problems, and simple technical innovation and material replacement cannot solve them. On the contrary, we first need to change the production methods of enterprises and the consumption patterns of the masses, and call for priority to prevent the occurrence of plastics and recycling. If this is the premise, it is a reasonable choice to develop degradable plastics conditionally, and ensure that they will not excessively consume natural resources, have high recycling efficiency, and help prevent the occurrence of waste.

The components of common degradable plastics are either all derived from biomass (such as sugar, starch or lignocellulose), or all are converted from non-biomass materials, such as petroleum, or are a mixture of biomass and non-biomass plastics. Now, only when the relevant technical conditions and facilities are complete, the degradable plastics on the market can be partially or fully degraded by microorganisms into natural elements (such as water, carbon dioxide and biomass, etc.). Plastic products that can be biodegraded in the marine environment are still very rare. The "degradability" recognized by the European Standard for Composting Packaging Materials (EN 13432) must also satisfy the strict industrial processing conditions.

In the past half century, global plastic production has increased 20 times, from 15 million tons in 1964 to 322 million tons in 2015; if this rate remains unchanged, it is expected to double in the next 20 years. At the same time, according to estimates by the European Plastics Professional Association, 70% of the plastic waste generated in Europe every year is landfilled or incinerated, and only 30% is recycled. Due to the limitations of existing skills and the proliferation of low-quality disposable plastic products, this low recycling rate is unlikely to be improved.

In order to get rid of the dependence on fossil fuel resources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, countries and industries are looking for sources of plastic materials other than petroleum. In the next few years, the global bio-based plastic production capacity is expected to increase more than three times, and it may reach 7.85 million tons in 2019.

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