Plastic Packaging Industry Should Actively Face the New Situation

In recent years, China has been hard hit by the international financial crisis, and the implementation of the domestic Food Safety Law and the Circular Economy Promotion Law has, for

the industry, set new requirements. China Packaging Federation

Cai Mingchi, secretary-general of the Packaging Committee, believes that promoting the steady and rapid development of the plastic packaging industry is an arduous task, and that the whole industry will move in a healthier direction under the guidance of macro policies. He put forward the following specific suggestions

Raising legal awareness

The important laws and regulations issued and implemented in succession not long ago — the Circular Economy Promotion Law, the Food Safety Law and the General Office of the State Council's Notice on Curbing Excessive Packaging of Commodities — have pointed the way for the development of the plastic packaging industry. Cai Mingchi noted that the plastic packaging industry is closely related to food safety, excessive packaging and the recycling and regeneration of packaging waste, and that the industry must attach great importance to this in its thinking and put it into practice in production and development. Food safety problems, waste of resources and environmental pollution arising in production and operation are already governed by corresponding laws and regulations; such problems harm enterprises and society alike and will entail administrative, economic or legal liability, so they must not be treated lightly.

Working hard to develop domestic and overseas markets

Cai Mingchi pointed out that plastic packaging is closely linked to most of the country's industries and that market development is an important part of advancing product development; to this end, the following work must be done well

First, do a good job of extending the market in existing application areas. At present, the

plastic packaging products

are mainly used for the packaging of food, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, grain, general industrial goods and daily consumer goods. The next step is to refine market segmentation and further open up markets by exploiting product differentiation and functionality. Second, in line with the adjustment of national industrial policy, track and follow the industries the state focuses on supporting, such as agricultural products, transport and building materials, and supply supporting, safe packaging products. Third, further strengthen contact, cooperation and communication with departments related to plastic packaging, collect all kinds of information and keep abreast of market trends. Fourth, further open up overseas markets; many related product markets abroad have undergone great changes, and plastic packaging enterprises should be proactive, seize the opportunities and step up research into and development of overseas markets.

Independent technological innovation to advance product mix adjustment

Experts point out that years of practice have proven that technological innovation is the driving force and lifeline of production and development for enterprises and even for the whole industry; to achieve sustainable development of enterprises and the industry, technological innovation must be done well. For example, biaxially oriented film equipment, since the last century

decade onward to the present, nearly

years of it has relied mainly on imports. To this end, the following work needs to be done well

First, enterprises should raise their awareness and treat independent innovation as a matter of survival. Second, enterprises that are in a position to do so should set aside a certain proportion of R&D funds each year, and the Plastic Products Packaging Committee will also actively cooperate to secure from the China Packaging Federation an annual

10,000 yuan in R&D funding to support eligible projects. Third, seek technical support from universities and research institutions. Fourth, strengthen information exchange and keep timely track of the latest technological developments at home and abroad. Fifth, the main focus of current technological innovation is adjusting the product mix, making products more safe, functional, differentiated and lightweight to meet market demand.

Developing energy-saving and consumption-reducing technologies to achieve lightweight, thin-walled packaging products. Experts point out that the plastic packaging industry currently has great potential for saving energy and reducing consumption. Take beverage bottles as an example

a milliliter bottle has a net weight of

grams is possible;

grams, while abroad it is only

grams; with domestic technology, pushing it down to

grams is entirely possible. One enterprise with an annual output of

hundred million beverage bottles did the math: saving

grams per bottle, it can save raw material over the year of

ten thousand tonnes; with the raw material priced at per tonne

ten thousand yuan, it can save

hundred million yuan — a considerable benefit. At present, the polyester film used for flexible packaging usually has a thickness of

microns; if the country's annual consumption of polyester film for packaging is taken as

ten thousand tonnes, of which

micron film makes up of the total weight

calculated, with the thickness reduced to

microns, then the whole country can save in one year over

ten thousand tonnes. At the same time, by producing less

film, electricity can also be saved

, for a total electricity saving of

ten thousand kWh. As another example,

liter drums, with a tare weight of

kilograms; if each drum reduces consumption by

grams, an enterprise producing

ten thousand drums a year can save

tonnes of raw material and cut cost expenses by

It can thus be seen that thin-walling and light-weighting of packaging containers can not only reduce enterprise costs and increase profits, but also reduce resource consumption, lower transport costs and cut the generation of packaging waste, creating both social and economic benefits. Of course,

plastic packaging containers

are light-weighted through effective methods and on the premise of ensuring the usability and safety required by the packaged products and consumers. So-called light-weighting is not cutting corners on materials; it has to be achieved through technological progress and continuous innovation.

Implementing the Circular Economy Law, doing a good job of recycling and reusing plastic packaging waste, and taking the road of green packaging. Cai Mingchi pointed out that there are certain misunderstandings in the development of green packaging products in China: green packaging is often understood as packaging products'

, and packaging products made of degradable materials are regarded as green packaging products, while the environmental pollution and waste of resources generated in production are ignored, as are the effects of packaging products on human health and the reuse of packaging materials. In fact, whether a packaging material is

has to be judged by its impact on the environment over the product's entire life cycle. For example, paper packaging that is not properly recovered and handled may also have adverse effects on the environment, while non-degradable packaging can still become a green packaging product if it achieves reduction, resource recovery and harmlessness. At present, even in developed countries that strictly promote green packaging, plastics are the fastest-growing packaging material, and the main measure to reduce the environmental impact of plastics is to strengthen recycling.

China's plastic packaging output has already exceeded

ten thousand tonnes, yet the annual utilization rate of packaging waste is only

bottle recycling and reuse is relatively high, mainly thanks to

recycling having relatively high use value.

hundred million units, while producing

tonnes of new polyester chips requires

tonnes of petroleum; calculated on bottle-grade

ten thousand tonnes of polyester, the consumption is

ten thousand tonnes of petroleum, so recycling and reuse can greatly save resources and is of great significance to developing the circular economy.

——This article is reprinted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn), original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-369961.html