The project is going crazy, what is the prospect of PBAT?

As a fully biodegradable plastic, PBAT is currently widely used in supermarket shopping bags, take-out meal boxes, agricultural mulch and other fields such as agricultural, commercial and medical. Recently, many companies have released PBAT-related news, making PBAT, a degradable plastic product, attracting industry attention!

Latest news of PBAT project

◆ On September 21, Kingfa Technology announced that as of the end of the second quarter of this year, the 60,000 tons of fully biodegradable polyester project is in full production, and the 60,000 tons/year PBAT production line under construction is expected to be in the first half of 2021. Put into production. At the same time, Kingfa Technology also stated that its subsidiary Zhuhai Wantong's 240,000 tons/year biodegradable plastic project has been filed with the local government. The company will build degradable plastic projects in phases according to product market promotion and changes in degradable plastic policies to increase new production capacity in due course. Kingfa Technology already has an annual production capacity of 70,000 tons of PBAT, ranking second in the world and number one in Asia, and an annual production capacity of 240,000 tons of PBAT is on record.

◆ On September 21, China Tianchen Engineering Co., Ltd., Xinjiang Wangjinglong New Materials Co., Ltd., Harbin Electric International Engineering Co., Ltd., and China Chemical Engineering No. 13 Construction Co., Ltd. jointly signed an EPC contract for an annual output of 1.2 million tons of PBAT project in Tianjin And letter of intent for financing cooperation. The signing of this contract indicates that Wangjinglong's PBAT project with an annual output of 100,000 tons has the conditions to start construction.

The project is located in the Korla Petroleum and Petrochemical Industrial Park in Bazhou, Xinjiang. The construction scale is an annual production of 1.3 million tons of PBAT equipment (including the start-up project with an annual output of 100,000 tons of PBAT and two sets of 600,000 tons of PBAT) and an annual output of 400,000 tons of B Glycol plant (using the second-generation Shanghai Wuzheng medium and high-pressure carbonylation process to produce ethylene glycol technology), an annual output of 500,000 tons of oxamide plant (new non-polluting slow-release fertilizer), an annual output of 200,000 tons of POM (polyformaldehyde) plant, The hydrogen energy industry has a total investment of 30 billion yuan.

◆ Recently, Hengli Petrochemical also stated that the company's currently newly built 33,000-ton/year PBAT project is expected to be put into operation by the end of this year.

◆ According to media reports, the preliminary procedures for the 60,000-ton PBAT biodegradable plastic project of Ruifeng High Materials have been basically completed, and the construction is ready to start.

◆ In addition, Tongcheng New Materials has introduced the PBAT polymerization technology authorized by BASF, and has also landed a PBAT production and construction project in the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park, the first phase of 60,000 tons/year.

PBAT project goes crazy

With the gradual formulation and enforcement of the ban on plastics throughout the country, the irreplaceability of degradable plastics has become more prominent. According to statistics from Huaan Securities, as of July 2020, there are 36 companies under construction or proposed to build biodegradable plastic projects, adding a total of 4.405 million tons of new capacity. By 2025, considering the low operating rate of biodegradable plastic production capacity, China's production capacity must reach 4.76 million tons to meet demand.

As of the end of June 2020, the global PBAT production capacity was 279,000 tons per year. The world's largest PBAT manufacturer is BASF, Germany, with an annual production capacity of 74,000 tons. my country has built PBAT production capacity of 130,000 tons, accounting for 46% of the world's total production capacity.

Due to the broad prospects of my country's PBAT market, domestic companies with corresponding strength are rushing to enter the PBAT market. These companies as shown in Table 1 have announced their PBAT construction plans.

Optimal process conditions for preparing PBAT resin

The "Biodegradable Materials Research Institute" has introduced the preparation method of PBAT: using adipic acid (AA), terephthalic acid (PTA), butanediol (BDO) as monomers, and synthesizing polyadipate in a certain proportion/pair Butylene phthalate, the key point in the process is to strictly control the esterification method, esterification time, polycondensation temperature, stabilizer, etc. of the reaction. These key factors can directly affect the synthesis process and ultimately affect the performance of the product. In order to ensure the preparation of good PBAT resin, the best process conditions required are: co-esterification reaction mode, esterification time is 185 min, polycondensation temperature is 248-250 ℃, and stabilizer dosage is 70 μg/g. There are three esterification methods for the preparation of PBAT, including: co-esterification, partial esterification and tandem esterification.

The price difference between PBAT and PE can be as high as 3 times

In 2019, the domestic PLA price range is 16,000 to 30,000 yuan per ton, and the PBAT price range is 14,000 to 25,000 yuan per ton. In the same period, the average price of PE (polyethylene) is 8,378 yuan per ton (tax included) ), the average price of PP (polypropylene) is 9351 yuan per ton (tax included). Compared with ordinary plastic products such as PE, PP, etc., the prices of PLA and PBAT are still high, which increases the cost and expense of end users. Take PE as an example: PLA ratio is 1.9 to 3.6 times the price of PE, and PBAT is 1.7 to 3 times the price of PE. The price gap is large.

The industry urgently needs standard development

Industry experts pointed out that biodegradable plastics are still in the early stages of development. Degradable plastics still have some unresolved issues that need to be discussed urgently, and solutions are urgently needed by the government and related industries.

1 Raw material issues

Since most biodegradable plastics are still derived from food raw materials at this stage, when the future production increases significantly, the use of raw materials may affect food security issues and compete with agricultural land, or expand agricultural land and cause forestry damage.

2Quality and price bottlenecks

At present, there is still room for improvement in the quality and economy of biodegradable plastics, and there is still a certain distance to replace existing plastic products and meet the needs of businesses.

3 security issues

Biodegradable plastics also use chemical additives in the manufacturing process. Are these additives eco-toxic and how should they be managed?

In addition, the application of degradable plastics is now vigorously promoted, and the following problems still exist from a social perspective:

1 Market is mixed

There are now biodegradable plastics, pseudo-biodegradable plastics, oxidatively degradable plastics, light-degradable plastics, and ordinary plastics of traditional materials. Various types of degradable and non-degradable plastic products are mixed, and it is difficult for consumers to distinguish.

2 Limited consumer awareness

In addition to the difficulty for consumers to distinguish between degradable and non-degradable plastics, there are also insufficient awareness of the waste classification of biodegradable plastics.

3 Insufficient basis for market supervision

The country has paralleled multiple standards related to degradable plastics, and there is no complete certification system for biodegradable plastics, making market supervision difficult.

4 Insufficient back-end collection and processing

At present, the development speed of back-end collection, transportation and processing cannot keep up with the promotion and application of biodegradable plastics.

Experts predict that although there are still many practical problems, the government is determined to ban plastics. With the gradual increase in consumer demand, the sustainable development strategy of green and environmental protection will surely promote its research and development and expand its application. The cost reduction brought by biodegradable plastics will surely bring good opportunities for the development of biodegradable plastics.