More and more businessmen, politicians and
citizens turn their sights on the bio-degradable plastics due to the shortness
of fossil fuel and serious living condition. Also, domestic bio-materials have
gained excellent score both in production capacity and technology. But will
bio-degradable plastics have a smooth sail in the future? Maybe there are
barriers lying on the road of bio-degradable plastics' development, according
to CCM International’s June issue of Biomaterials
China News.
High
Price leads to small market
For the public, bio-degradable plastic sounds
like a luxury. Take the food-grade film for example,PLA (polylactic acid) ,the
most popular bio-degradable plastic, can be sold for USD4,740/t, while price of
PE (polyethylene, one of the most general plastics) is only about USD1,896/t.
Expensive price makes bio-degradable plastic invisible in general activity and
daily life though it can attract many people's sight in large exhibition. Only
some famous companies, like Coca-Cola and McDonald, who want to bear more
social responsibility, have used bio-degradable plastic as their raw material.
Mr. Dan Sawyer, Manager of NatureWorks LLC in
the Asia-Pacific region, said on April 19, 2012 that the quantity of consumed
PLA worldwide increased by 20%, but regions responsible for the increase are
Europe and America
Domestic leading enterprises of
bio-degradable plastics, such as Wuhan Huali, Guangdong Shangjiu, Kingfa, etc.,
complained about the similar problem, expressing that domestic bio-degradable
plastic market is very small.
New
Market is difficult to expand
Besides expensive cost, Mr. Hu, Chief
Scientist of Wuhan Huali, explained that the difficulty to expand market has
tormented bio-degradable plastic salesmen for a long time. He said that
domestic companies have already formed a fixed network by purchasing and
selling, while as a new product, bio-degradable plastic is still difficult to
enter their network, for most enterprises are afraid to bear extra risk and
don’t want to break down the cooperation with their traditional partners.
Attacks
from low-end products and fake commodities
Attributed to government's weak regulation,
many cheap fake commodities disturbed the market. When Wuhan Huali tried to
expand market, they often have to face the situation exactly as what's said by
Mr. Hu, "it just needs some recycled plastic and some calcium carbonate to
produce fake commodities which are similar to ours, but these fake commodities
can be sold at a very cheap price. If fake commodities can’t be banned effectively,
the real environmental bio-degradable plastic industry will not have a bright
futrue, which is dangerous (for the industry) at present.
R&D
expenditure is insufficient
Innovation is the key factor for a company’s
development, especially for those high technology industries, such as
bio-degradable material. And private enterprises are an important source for
innovation as they are sensitive to new technology and new market. But in China
Raw
material needs reformation
Process
technology is not mature
Through the development of several centuries,
the process technology of fossil fuel plastics is very mature, and fossil fuel
plastics can be widely used in almost all industries. But bio-degradable
plastics still have many disadvantages, especially in process technology, which
leads to bio-degradable plastics’ application focusing on package, medicals and
disposable table ware.
Recycle
and degradation may require a new system
In fact, most degradable plastics can’t
decompose in nature environment. For example, PLA may exist 100 years or more
without controlled-composting environment, which is made up of special
facility, special microbe, and temperature of 60 celsius degree for more than
10 days. Besides, garbage workers can’t distinguish PLA from PET efficiently. A
new system is required to recycle PLA, according to the dilemma on PLA’s
recycle in America in 2009 that rubbish recycle station refused people to use
PLA bottlers since PLA can bring great trouble for American Rubbish Recycling
System that USA has spent 20 years on the system’s construction.
Though the bio-degradable plastic industry
still has many problems to be solved, it’s still a great progress to decrease
the rely on fossil fuel and strengthen environmental protection. The current
situation is that more problems may be hidden, since the industry has just
taken its first step. Nevertheless, the overseas market demand is greatly over
its capacity, so the domestic market potential is predicted to be great in the
future.
Main content of Biomaterials China
Barriers
to lie on road of bio-degradable plastics
Numerous
bio-material enterprises enter agriculture film market
Development
of PLA recycle in China
PBS may enjoy bright future in China
Kingfa
tries to double its sales within four years
Domestic
first low-temperature special water soluble fiber successfully developed
JAAS
successfully developed degradable straw pot
Corn
stock of northeast ports continues rising
Price of
global wheat may be pushed to a higher record due to drought
… …
(Guangzhou China
Biomaterials China News, with 12 to 14 topics in one issue, published on
the 8th every month, will bring you the latest information on the latest market
dynamics, company dynamics, new biomaterials products, new biomaterials
technology development, new legislations and policies and raw material supply
dynamics that are shaping the market.
About CCM
CCM is dedicated to market research in China
CCM International Ltd.
Guangzhou CCM Information Science & Technology Co., Ltd.
17th Floor, Huihua Commercial & Trade Mansion, No.80 Xianlie Zhong Road, Guangzhou 510070,China
Guangzhou CCM Information Science & Technology Co., Ltd.
17th Floor, Huihua Commercial & Trade Mansion, No.80 Xianlie Zhong Road, Guangzhou 510070,
Tel: 86-20-37616606
