Polylactic acid (PLA) plastic bottle environmental protection is still a certain controversy
In recent years, the global supply of petroleum resources has continued to be tight, and the environmental protection pressures faced by the synthetic resin products industry have been increasing. This has given rise to the expansion of the market for bioplastic bottles. According to Professor Guo Baohua of Tsinghua University, the world’s current plastic production exceeds 250 million tons, about 25% of which is used for disposable packaging materials and low-life materials, so about 70 million tons of plastic can be replaced with biodegradable materials, if 20% of them With the substitution of biodegradable materials, the global demand for biodegradable materials will reach 14 million tons, while the current global production capacity of biodegradable materials is about 450,000 tons. According to statistics from the European Bioplastics Association, bioplastics will grow at an average annual rate of more than 20% in the coming years. HY-STAINLESS STEEL INDUSTRIAL CO.,LTD. , https://www.cnhuangyi.com
The fast-growing market is bound to attract people's attention to the safety and environmental protection of bio-plastics. Most experts take a positive attitude toward bioplastics. Zhang Xiangnan, deputy secretary-general of the Innovation Alliance for Low-Carbon Bioplastics, said that since bioplastics are derived from natural biomass materials and plasticizers for processing are mostly green products such as citric acid esters and glycerides, they have good safety. However, experts pointed out that the current "green argument" of bioplastics producers is very complicated and environmentalists hold reservations about them. On the one hand, the production of bio-plastics will produce carbon dioxide, which will lead to global warming. On the other hand, bio-based raw material biomass materials will have carbon neutrality and will convert 200 billion tons of carbon dioxide into carbohydrates each year through photosynthesis. In addition, bioplastics face the issue of recycling management after use. For example, polylactic acid (PLA) plastic bottles cause contamination problems with recycled materials. Due to the lack of bioplastic labeling methods, people often cannot sort PLA and other plastics. Although the current PLA level has not yet constituted serious pollution, a large number of PLA plastic bottles will hinder polyethylene terephthalate ( PET) recycling of plastic bottles.
In the face of these problems, industry experts pointed out that judging whether bio-plastic bottles are low-carbon and environmentally friendly requires the introduction of life-cycle analysis. Dr. Guangming Guang of Nanjing University of Technology introduced that the so-called life cycle analysis is to analyze and evaluate the impact of products on the resources and environment during the entire process of raw material production, transportation, use, recycling and destruction. For example, the recycling of PET bottles to produce non-woven fabrics, due to the reuse of PET materials, the recycling process is environmentally friendly, but the process of producing non-woven fabrics consumes a lot of water, if the non-woven fabric is not recycled after use, or Incineration will pollute the environment. Another example is papermaking. Since the raw material is biomass, it can be degraded and is environmentally friendly, but the papermaking waste liquid in the production process is seriously polluted. Therefore, from the perspective of the whole life cycle, papermaking will certainly pollute the environment.
Ji Shufan, an official at the Department of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, pointed out that the focus on the cleanliness of plastics production from the product life cycle is to focus on the harmlessness of the entire process from raw material production to scrapping. He suggested that companies should actively focus on the low carbon content of their products, reduce their carbon footprint, and participate in carbon emissions trading.
Experts believe that life cycle analysis will promote the development of carbon trading. As a clean energy mechanism, carbon trading is the most popular explanation: “Other people save money, you come to reduce emissions,†and others rely on money? Life cycle analysis is one of the basis. According to Xu Guangming, many countries have begun to encourage the development of biomass plastics through the imposition of carbon taxes, such as Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Life cycle analysis can provide a basis for the assessment of carbon taxes.