Three Trends in Spout Pouches

Spout pouches are widely used in flexible packaging, and the direction their environmental development is taking can be summed up in three trends: harmlessness, composting, and reduction at source.

Harmlessness. Research following trials found that after a period of landfill burial, degradable spout pouches undergo enormous changes in their chemical and mechanical properties within a short time, and can ultimately biodegrade into completely harmless fragments. This reduces waste, brings environmental pollution under control, and returns the material to the natural environment. This conclusion comes from research carried out after trials.

Composting. In recent years, landfill and incineration have gradually come under restriction, and composting has begun to receive attention again: it not only reduces the emission of harmful gases, but the compost itself can serve as an organic fertiliser that improves the soil. Developing environmentally friendly degradable spout pouches therefore needs to move in the direction of composting, so as to fit the overall needs of the environmental field. Composting has therefore moved steadily up the agenda.

Reduction at source. This trend starts at the beginning of the chain: producing as few spout pouches as possible, and thereby consuming fewer resources and generating less waste. The industry is researching, developing and promoting degradable plastic packaging and highly filled inorganic materials. The aim is to cut resource consumption and waste at the source rather than deal with them afterwards.

Overall, environmentally degradable spout pouches can effectively ease and curb environmental pollution, but their production technology and wider application still need further development; they carry significance for both energy use and environmental protection. Photodegradation of plastic packaging, meanwhile, can save on raw materials and petroleum; such packaging not only breaks down more easily in the environment, it also has strategic value for resource use. Taken together, these three directions point to the same goal by different routes, and following them is a way for packaging to stay in step with what the market now requires.