Biodegradable plastics usher in market opportunities

Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and other nine departments jointly issued the "Notice on Solid Promotion of Plastic Pollution Control", proposing that from January 1 next year, some cities will take the lead in banning the use of non-degradable plastic shopping bags and other measures. The upgraded "plastic restriction order" not only intensified the prevention and control of "white pollution", but also released the huge market potential in the field of biodegradable plastics.

According to statistics, China consumes about 4 million tons of shopping bags, 2.46 million tons of agricultural films, and 2.6 million tons of take-out packaging every year. With the rapid development of express and take-out businesses, the demand for plastics continues to grow. After the "plastic restriction order" is upgraded, the demand for a large number of plastic products will be partly transferred to the field of biodegradable plastics. According to data from the Northeast Securities Research Report, the potential space for biodegradable plastics in China reached 6.79 million tons in 2018, and the overall potential space for the world reached 26.2 million tons. However, the actual global demand for fully degradable plastics in 2018 was only 360,000 tons, and the penetration rate was only 0.65%; China was also only 0.62%, and there is huge room for improvement.

As a substitute for traditional plastics, biodegradable plastics are mainly two categories: PLA (polylactic acid) and PBAT. Polylactic acid is a polymer material produced by polymerization of lactic acid as a raw material. It is non-toxic, non-irritating, high-strength, easy to process and shape, and has good biocompatibility, with a high degree of commercialization.

In recent years, the growth of biodegradable plastic production capacity has shown a vigorous trend. The largest domestic producer of polylactic acid is Zhejiang Hisun Biomaterials Co., Ltd. According to its official data, the production capacity was 15,000 tons in 2015 and expanded to 65,000 tons in 2016. According to data from Tianyan Check, the production of fully biodegradable plastics of A-share listed company Kingfa Technology reached 13,000 tons in the third quarter of 2019.

The upgrade of the "plastic restriction order" has stimulated the rapid growth of market demand for biodegradable plastics, but high costs may become an important factor restricting the development of biodegradable materials. According to Alibaba search results, the current domestic market price of polylactic acid plastic is 20-30 yuan/kg, while the price of PP raw material particles used in traditional disposable plastics is around 10 yuan/kg. Recycled PP produced by traditional plastic recycling The price of pellets is lower, and the price of biodegradable plastics is as high as 3 to 5 times that of ordinary plastics.