Plastics are the basic chemical products in our daily life, such as express packaging, takeout boxes, supermarkets, shopping bags and bottles. In recent years, with the rapid development of Internet e-commerce industries such as express and takeout, plastics are used more and more widely. However, due to the difficulty of plastic degradation and the use of additives in plastic synthesis, these toxicity will endanger the soil and ocean, It does great harm to human health and ecological environment.

With the large-scale use of plastics and the non-standard plastic recycling system, white pollution has become a globally recognized environmental problem. White pollution is severe. Degradable plastics are the key materials to replace existing plastics. Degradable plastics are transformed into CO2 and water through light, biology and other ways to complete the carbon cycle. They are an ideal substitute to solve white pollution.

With the strengthening of the national policy on environmental protection and carbon neutralization, the plastic restriction order in key cities across the country began to be implemented in an all-round way from January 1, 2021, requiring the prohibition of disposable non degradable straw, supermarkets, shopping malls and other places, the prohibition of the use of non degradable plastic packaging, entering the implementation stage of the policy, and the benefits to the degradable plastic industry will be officially implemented, Relevant listed companies are expected to enter the stage of substantial performance growth and cashing.

Main technical routes of the industry: polylactic acid (PLA) and petroleum based poly (PBAT)

From the technical path of degradable materials, it can be divided into partial degradation and complete degradation. PE / starch mixed plastics can only achieve partial degradation, while bio based polylactic acid (PLA) and petroleum based poly (PBAT) can achieve complete degradation.

PLA: it has good transparency, gloss, antibacterial, acid and alkali resistance, good biodegradability, excellent material performance and large application fields in the future. It is expected to have large-scale applications in the field of daily necessities, textiles, medical and health care and other fields in the future, with broad alternative market space.

Due to the large gap and barrier between China's lactide technology and foreign countries, the development of China's PLA industry is limited. At present, the PLA is under construction and planned production capacity is about 2 million tons, but most of the production capacity may not be put into operation due to lactide technical barrier, and the supply is limited in the future, so the industry will maintain a better competition pattern.

PBAT: it has good ductility, elongation at break, heat resistance and impact performance, and is easy to form film. It can be used in the production of disposable daily necessities, packaging materials, agricultural films and other fields. It has good biodegradability and is the mainstream degradable plastic product in the future.

At present, compared with traditional non degradable plastic PE, the unit cost of PBAT is about 20% higher. In the future, the cost is expected to be reduced to PE, and the cost is basically the same. With the decline of cost and price, the PBAT market will increase significantly. At present, the domestic PBAT under construction and planned production capacity exceeds 4 million tons, and various listed companies and industry leaders are increasing their horse racing enclosure and expanding their production capacity.

Market space: market size of 2.5 million tons, market space of 50 billion, an increase of 45 times

At the beginning of last year, the national development and Reform Commission issued the opinions on further strengthening plastic pollution control, focusing on the prohibition, restriction and time promotion nodes in the four fields of non degradable plastic bags, disposable plastic tableware, disposable plastic products for hotels and hotels and express plastic packaging. It was fully enforced on January 1 this year.

Relevant research institutions estimate that the demand space for degradable plastics in the four main downstream fields, such as express packaging, disposable plastic tableware, plastic shopping bags and agricultural plastic film, will reach 1 million tons, 700000 tons, 500000 tons and 300000 tons respectively by 2025, forming a market space of about 2.5 million tons and a market scale of about 50 billion yuan, The growth space is 45 times.

At the same time, due to the high production cost of degradable plastics, China's degradable plastics are still in the industry introduction period, but under the enforcement of policies, the degradable industry will usher in a golden track, and the industry leaders are expected to seize the opportunity to seize the market and make the latecomers sigh.