Commodity moderately packaged plastic can bear heavy responsibility

In addition to basic functions such as protection and storage of goods, packaging has gradually become one of the important means for competition in the modern commodity market and the establishment of corporate brands, and its role in transmitting product information and clearing marketing psychology has become stronger. However, along with it, the problem of excessive packaging of various types of goods, especially food and alcohol, has become increasingly prominent. Some commodity packaging costs are even higher than the value of the goods themselves. The space volume rate is much higher than the international common control ratio, causing waste of resources. . As packaging costs increase, the retail price of goods will naturally rise. Excessive packaging has caused widespread public concern.

With the advancement of China's industrialization, urbanization and modernization, the demand for resources has grown substantially, the contradiction between supply and demand for resources has become increasingly prominent, and the pressure on the environment has grown. Therefore, the development of green packaging and moderate packaging has become an important issue in the packaging industry. As an emerging packaging material, plastic packaging is replacing traditional materials such as paper, metal, and glass, and will play an increasingly important role in the packaging industry.

New plastic packaging material research and development is in the ascendant

At present, domestic enthusiasm for the development of high-performance, low-cost, easy-to-recycle, environmentally-friendly green plastic packaging with high biodegradability has increased. Numerous scientific research institutions and companies have done a lot of work in this area and have achieved gratifying results.

High-barrier plastic packaging materials have been rapidly developed and widely used due to their functions of shelf life, freshness preservation, flavor protection, and shelf life extension. In addition to the currently widely used PVDC and EVOH, the development of PVA, PEN, and copolyamides will increase in recent years. striking.

The use of metallocene polyolefins (MHDPE, MLLDPE, MPP) can further improve the soft packaging strength, toughness, transparency, barrier properties, heat resistance and processability, and are welcomed by packaging companies. In recent years, winding packaging technology and equipment appearing in the world, using metallocene polyolefins to make stretch-wound films, has entered a period of great development and will bring about changes in the logistics industry and the transport packaging industry. Functional packaging materials, such as functional cling film, film only, microporous breathable cling film, selective air-permeable packaging film, multifunctional heat-shrinkable packaging film, and packaging with special functions and convenience (easy to open, easy to reseal) Materials and products will gain greater development. The biggest technical advantage of aseptic packaging materials is that, under aseptic conditions, without preservatives and without refrigeration, the original nutrients and flavors of the food can be retained to the maximum extent, the shelf life can be greatly extended, and it is convenient for storage and transportation. The development is very rapid, and its use is expanding. Apart from having a large market share in dairy products and juice drinks, it will further expand into the fields of medicine, cosmetics and condiments. Nanocomposite packaging materials will be rapidly industrialized with the development of nanotechnology, and their wear resistance, hardness, strength, barrier properties, and plasticity are all significantly improved and improved. Besides being used for food packaging, they can also be used for special packaging. Such as anti-static, anti-electromagnetic, explosion-proof and invisible, dangerous goods packaging, etc., is expected to promote the traditional plastic packaging materials have brought about tremendous changes.

At the same time, environmental protection plastic packaging materials are increasingly becoming a global concern. Among them, plastic packaging materials that are easily recycled and reusable, such as PET and PEN, and biodegradable plastics in easily degradable plastics have become hot spots. Others such as zero pollution Foams, thin-walled bottles and pouches are also of interest. The research and development of degradable plastics in China has also shifted from incomplete degradation to full biodegradation. However, due to the weak domestic market's ability to bear the price and people's awareness of environmental protection is still not strong, the actual amount of domestic biodegradable plastic is still very small, so domestic production companies have turned their attention to foreign markets, such as Japan, South Korea and European market. In areas such as the use of disposable plastic bags and tableware, the use of biodegradable plastics instead of non-degradable plastics has not yet formed a proper market because of economic costs. In this area, the task of biodegradable plastics is to further reduce costs, improve performance, and promote marketization. In addition, the development of water-soluble films to solve the packaging waste disposal problem is also one of the directions of development.

To reduce resources to achieve optimal utilization of resources

Plastic flexible packaging is lighter, softer, and less costly, and therefore more competitive than hard packaging. Plastics, especially plastic flexible packaging, are the most effective way to reduce the amount of packaging. The amount of reduction is even greater than the amount of recycling, so the lightweight design of plastic packaging plays the most important role in the rational use of resources. According to the study of the European Association of Plastics Manufacturers, due to the emergence of flexible packaging technology, the average quality of plastics used for packaging has decreased by 28% in the past 10 years, and annual consumption has been reduced by more than 1.8 million tons, saving resources. The annual consumption of packaging materials in Europe is 66.4 million tons, of which plastics are 11.6 million tons, accounting for 17% of the total packaging materials, but 50% of European products are packaged.

Due to the good overall performance and cost-effectiveness of plastic flexible packaging, its annual growth rate of consumption is higher than other packaging materials both now and in the future.

In order to improve the market competitiveness, plastic packaging is currently developing toward thinning and high performance, in which the demand for multilayer composite films is growing faster than that of ordinary single-layer films, and polyethylene films and biaxially oriented polypropylene films are used in packaging. The application prospects are the most promising.

Strengthen recycling of plastic packaging waste

With the continuous increase in the consumption of plastic packaging products, the total amount of waste plastics will also increase rapidly, and the contradiction between the environment and development will become increasingly prominent. Therefore, the management of waste plastics has become an urgent matter. At present, the domestic waste plastic packaging is mainly plastic film, plastic bag, plastic wire and woven goods, foam plastic, plastic crates and containers. The improper storage, transportation, processing, application and post-processing of these waste plastics are bound to damage the environment and endanger human survival. At the same time, in the shortage of resources today, we should pay more attention to the recycling of waste plastics. However, there is still a big gap between domestic recycling policies and technologies and developed countries. Therefore, we must learn from foreign advanced experience and technology to do a good job in the recycling of plastic packaging waste. Recycling plastics can not only effectively control pollution, but also create huge economic and environmental benefits. It is a green environmental protection industry that benefits the country and the people.

The most pressing issue in reality is to improve the collection and disposal system for plastic waste, and to develop a technical support system for various waste plastic recycling and disposal systems, and to accelerate the construction of new industrial teams, trading venues, and processing gathering areas for the recycling and disposal of waste plastics. .

Reprinted from: China Food Business Network