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The "strictest plastic restrictions" in history began to be implemented nationwide this year, and the plastics industry is facing the challenge of upgrading. Among them, biodegradable plastics, which have the most advantage of replacing traditional plastics, have become the "new favorite" in the market. However, the reporter found that the current degradable plastics industry is still "small and scattered", high-end capacity is still insufficient, the cost pressure of enterprises and businesses is greater, there is objective resistance to the comprehensive promotion of products, and a new round of quality upgrading is urgently needed.

However, some manufacturers or businesses are using the word "biodegradable" to prevent consumers from identifying compliant biodegradable plastic products. For example, although some plastic bags are nominal degradable plastic bags, in fact it is common plastic bags, and do not agree with the "limit plastic" regulation.

However, the fake biodegradable bags of ordinary plastic bags are just part of the current biodegradable bag market chaos.

Merchants claim "biodegradable" in marketing on e-commerce platforms

The investigation found that some merchants were selling ordinary non-biodegradable plastic bags (the actual products and their packaging did not have the word "biodegradable" on them), but were advertising their products with the word "biodegradable" on e-commerce platforms. Of the 56 "biodegradable" bags purchased online, eight were actually ordinary non-biodegradable bags, accounting for 14 percent of the samples.

Types of degradation are either undescribed or mixed

Degradable plastic products and their packages shall indicate the degradation type of the products. Different types of degradable plastics require different degradable environments and methods, so the description of degradable plastics types can not only help consumers avoid controversial degradable plastics products, but also promote the proper disposal of degradable plastics products after use.

The survey found that only 26 of the 57 bags labeled "biodegradable" either on the product itself or on its packaging said the type of degradation, with varying descriptions.

Genuine biodegradable plastic bags are rare

The description of the material composition of the product can help consumers judge the true degradability of plastic bags. Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Market Supervision has reminded consumers that the real biodegradable plastic material on the market is usually PLA, PBAT or PLA + PBAT + starch (ST). If the product material contains PP, PE, "please directly remove from the cart".

The survey found that for 57 types of plastic bags labeled as "biodegradable" in the product itself or on its packaging, 51, or nearly 90%, indicated the composition of the material. However, only 14 types of plastic bags contain PLA and only 13 types of plastic bags contain PBAT.

Lack of description of degradation conditions and degradation time

To the problem of biodegradable plastic price cost more than the personage inside course of study thinks, as domestic biodegradable plastics industry into capacity expansion, consumption demand stage, believe that from the source to the consumer terminal production, the whole industry will reach a consensus of environmentally friendly material, market demand and the scale of production will be more and more big, biodegradable plastic production cost will be less and less.

"The scale of China's degradable plastics market is huge, and the previously reserved raw material capacity cannot meet 100% of the market supply in the first time, and the construction speed of raw material capacity is obviously slower than that of product processing capacity, which leads to the rise of raw material prices. And the construction of qualified, high quality raw material capacity is particularly critical, is also the most difficult step. When the capacity level meets consumer demand, the cost will come down further and the price will come back to rational." Yuan Zhimin, chairman of Goldilocks Technology, said.