Application Problems and Promotion Measures of Green Packaging Materials (II)

2. Polylactic acid packaging materials

United States CollegeFarm

Brand Candy uses a bio-degradable resin PLA-Nature-Works natural material packaging film. This film has the same appearance and performance as a traditional candy wrap (glassine or biaxially stretched polypropylene film) and has only crystalline transparency, excellent kink retention, printability, and strength, and has a higher barrier property and is better Keep the sweet smell. At present, the company has a set of PLANatureWorks film in the high-speed kink packaging equipment, with a production capacity of 1,300 pieces/min. The Faerch Plastics Company of Denmark invented the use of polylactic acid as a packaging material, and the new product is suitable for packaging low-temperature fresh foods, including various kinds of noodles, pasta and salads. Faerch's current packaging products include various trays and bottles. The original processing resins that can be heat sealed are PS, PP, and PET. Adopting this new product will put the company and its users at the front end of the packaging industry. A German company successfully developed a green food cup with rapid natural decomposition using polylactic acid as a raw material, which has opened up a practical new way to solve the problem of degradation of disposable plastic packaging. The degradable material developed by the company belongs to the polyester polymer. The lactic acid can be extracted from sugar liquid fermented from sugar beet and undergo ring-opening polymerization to form polylactic acid.

Polylactic acid has become a worldwide research and development hotspot. It is a biodegradable polymer material that is polymerized by many lactic acid molecules and can be completely decomposed into water and carbon dioxide without any harm to the environment. In November 2004, the degradable polylactic acid material developed by Shanghai Xinli Industrial Microbial Technology Co., Ltd. and the School of Materials Science and Engineering of Tongji University has been successfully developed and has been listed as a major industrialization project in Shanghai City for Science and Education. The production of polylactic acid is based on lactic acid. Most of the traditional lactic acid fermentation uses starch-based raw materials. At present, the United States, France, Japan and other countries have used corn, sugarcane, sugar beet, potatoes and other agricultural and sideline products as raw materials to produce lactic acid, thereby producing polylactic acid. . The process used by US LLC to make biodegradable plastics from corn is as follows: First, the corn is ground into powder, the starch is separated, and the original glucose is extracted from the starch. Then anaerobic fermentation of Lactobacillus, the fermentation process with liquid caustic soda to generate lactic acid, fermentation broth after purification, using electrodialysis process, made up to 99.5% purity of L-lactic acid. The extracted lactic acid is then made into the final polymer-polylactic acid. The annual global output of 600 million tons of corn makes it the raw material of choice for biodegradable plastics.


Natural bio-packaging materials such as wood, bamboo woven materials, sawdust, hemp cotton, wicker, reeds, and crop stalks, rice straw, wheat straw, etc., are all easily decomposed in the natural environment; they do not pollute the dusty environment, and the resources are renewable and the cost is low. . Bamboo packaging materials can be reduced, such as hollow-shaped bamboo baskets. Reuse and recycle (Reuse), bamboo packaging products can be used twice, waste can be burned and utilized, and compost can be used as fertilizer. Waste can degrade naturally. From bamboo cutting, bamboo processing, bamboo packaging material manufacturing and use, the whole process of recycling or degradation of waste will not cause harm to the human body and the environment. It conforms to the green packaging 3RID

Principles and Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) requirements. Bamboo-engraved plywood is an excellent green packaging material because of its characteristics of high strength, low price, light weight, easy recycling of waste, and no environmental pollution. Bamboo plywood is based on bamboo fiber structure perpendicular to each other, according to warp and weft woven into a seat after drying, gluing, forming blanks, hot pressed together, made of bamboo plastic sheet has good physical properties and chemical properties, product format Large, vertical and horizontal directions of small physical and mechanical properties, high strength, good moisture resistance.

4, food waste green packaging

According to the New Scientist magazine, biochemists at the Hawaii Institute of Natural Energy have made food waste a biodegradable polymer that researchers have humorously called "perfect plastic." This type of plastic, which can be degraded in a short time, is widely used not only for making packages such as bottles and bags but also for making capsules for medicines. According to the “New Scientist” quoted biochemist of the Institute of Natural Energy as saying, the raw material of the new biodegradable plastic is a mixture of water and various food wastes. It can produce 22~25kg biodegradable plastic per 100kg mixture, which not only greatly reduces the production cost. .

Measure

1. Formulate a green packaging material development plan

The development of green packaging materials involves many high-tech, industrial developed countries have been researching fully biodegradable plastics for several years, but so far there are not many real industrial products, which involves many experimental research and industrial production problems. The development of green packaging materials is not only a matter of the packaging industry, but also requires the cooperation of the entire industry; not only industrial enterprises, but also research institutes and universities. Therefore, it is necessary to formulate a five to ten year development plan for green packaging materials, and put forward major research and development projects and objectives, such as high-performance, low-cost pulp molded disposable tableware and packaging products, and honeycomb box instead of wooden box packaging. Production equipment, plant fiber cushioning packaging products, fully biodegradable plastics, edible packaging materials, high-strength thin-walled lightweight glass bottles, high-quality recycling and recycling technologies for waste packaging, especially high-quality recycling technology for waste plastics, waste The green plastic technology of the company concentrates on people's property, organizes elite teams, and has plans and targets to carry out research on collaborations, so that the development of our country's green packaging materials will enter the world's forefront.

2. Formulate and improve the legal system of green packaging

The regulatory content of green packaging materials should include environmental standards for green packaging materials, administrative regulations to control the total amount of emissions, as well as technical regulations for the prevention and elimination of environmental pollutants discharged into the environment, and also the use of used packaging waste. A system for recycling and reuse, and set 5, 10 years to achieve the goal of recycling of packaging materials. Green packaging materials regulations can also be incorporated into green packaging regulations, such as the "Packaging Waste Restriction Act" or "Packaging Law."

In the past decade or so, developed countries have taken measures one after another and have formulated various laws and directives. There are mainly the following types: First, it is stipulated in the form of legislation to prohibit the use of certain packaging materials. For example, legislation prohibits the use of packaging materials containing lead, mercury, and copper, and other appliances that cannot be reused;

Failed to achieve a specific recycling ratio of packaging materials. The second is to establish a storage return system. Many countries require that alcoholic beverages and soft drinks should use reusable containers. Some countries (such as Denmark) require that they fail to meet this standard and refuse to import it. The third is the implementation of tax incentives or fines. That is, manufacturers who manufacture and use packaging materials are given tax exemption, low tax concessions, or higher taxes based on the safety of the raw materials or packaging used in the packaging they produce, or the use of partially recycled packaging materials. Encourage the use of renewable resources. The fourth is to promote proper packaging. Excessive packaging causes waste of resources and also causes unnecessary environmental pollution. Some developed countries are advocating proper packaging and have introduced some regulations in succession. For example, the U.S. has imposed a regulatory limit on the degree of complexity and degree of packaging of goods according to a certain proportion.

If excessive packaging exceeds the requirement, heavy penalties will be imposed to force manufacturers to simplify packaging. Japan even proposes zero packaging.

Although China does not have a green packaging law, it does not mean that there are no laws and regulations that regulate green packaging. As the environmental pollution caused by packaging is a part of environmental issues, green packaging is an important aspect of protecting natural resources and preventing environmental pollution. Therefore, it should be regulated by the Environmental Protection Law. The "Environmental Protection Law" defines the principle of harmonization of environmental protection with economic and social development; the principle of prevention, prevention and control, and comprehensive management; polluter pays, user compensation, developer protection, principles of saboteur recovery, and reliance on The principle of the masses to protect the environment. In addition, the "Environmental Protection Law" also stipulates the basic systems of the environmental impact assessment system, the "three simultaneous" system, the pollutant discharge system, the permit system, and the deadline governance system. Legislation management, as a compulsory measure in environmental management, is an effective measure adopted by all countries in the world. To protect the smooth operation of the green packaging system, a sound and complete legal system must be established, and the production of packaging must be managed through legislation. Circulation and use, with laws and regulations to promote the development of green packaging.

3, research and development of environmental protection production and recycling technology

The environmental performance of packaging materials should be evaluated throughout the life cycle. In fact, the environmental pollution caused by paper, plastics, metal, and glass packaging used mainly in the production process is far greater than the environmental pollution caused by waste disposal. For example, waste paper discharged from paper packaging in pulp and paper, and plastic packaging in petroleum raw materials. Pollution caused by atmospheric pollution in the refining process, noise caused by metal edging, coating process, and body and mind pollution caused by smoke and dust, and dust and carbon dioxide and Z-silicon dioxide emitted by glass packaging during the smelting process. The pollution brought about is very serious. Therefore, in order to make the packaging material have "green" performance throughout its life cycle, clean production must be carried out. Among the three elements of "clean energy and raw materials," "clean production processes," and "clean products," the most important is the development of clean production technology. Clean production processes are "less waste" and "non-waste" processes. It is necessary to establish the production of closed loops to volatilize or precipitate or run off the material lost in the production process through recycling; as a raw material and then reuse, establish a closed production process from raw material input to waste recycling, try to Reducing the amount of wastes discharged from the outside world will not only increase the utilization rate of resources, but also radically eliminate the “three wastes” and prevent the packaging industry from causing harm to the environment. China has formally implemented the "Cleaner Production Promotion Law" from January 1, 2003. Enterprises that are toxic and harmful to the production process and pollute the environment must be subject to compulsory cleaner production audits. Therefore, it is very important for the development of green packaging materials to vigorously develop clean production process technologies for green packaging materials.

Packaging made from a single material is easy to recycle, and multi-layered composites must be considered for ease of separation without hindering reuse. If the aluminum beverage is coated with an organic coating on the surface, the organic coating can be burned without causing difficulties in recycling, and the composite paper-plastic packaging is difficult to separate for purification. However, composite materials are widely used in packaging materials, such as plastic composites, paper-plastic composites, plastic-aluminum composites, paper-plastic aluminum composites, plastic-wood composites, and other composite methods. Their greatest advantage in use is that they have multiple functions. , Such as a variety of barrier functions, moisture permeability, etc., to make it high-performance. The economic benefits are very prominent. The biggest disadvantage of composite materials is that they are difficult to recycle, difficult to separate and separate, and composite materials such as mixed into a single material will cause the recovery quality of a single material to be damaged. For example, aluminum paper and plastic composite materials are mixed into a single cardboard recycling material. ,

It will destroy the beating performance; composite films, such as the incorporation of a single plastic film, will also discard recycled and recycled products. Therefore, when the composite material is recycled, it can only be used as a fuel, and it is burned in the incinerator to recover heat energy. The current solution to the contradiction between high functionality and environmental performance of composite materials. The main directions are: 1
Develop a single high-performance material to replace composite materials; 2 Develop green composite materials that are easy to recycle. Both are difficult to develop.