Industry chain panorama: PBAT is the main development direction of degradable materials

The biodegradable plastics industry chain is mainly divided into three parts: design and key raw materials, biodegradable plastic products, and the application of biodegradable plastics.

Among them, PLA and PBAT are the main development directions of degradable materials in the future.

Representative companies in China's biodegradable plastics industry chain are located in Shandong, Anhui, Guangdong, Jiangsu and other regions. However, the current production scale of companies is generally small, and the market concentration needs to be improved.

A panoramic review of the biodegradable plastic industry chain:

PBAT is the main development direction of degradable materials

1. Upstream

The upstream of the degradable plastics industry chain is the production of raw materials. According to the source of raw materials, raw materials are roughly divided into BIO-based plastics and petroleum-based plastics.

Among them, the basic raw materials of bio-based plastics (such as starch-based plastics, PLA, PHA, etc.) are renewable natural biomass resources such as starch (such as corn, potatoes, etc.), plant straws, chitin, and the like.

Petroleum-based plastics (such as PBAT, PCL, PBS, PGA, etc.) are formed from Petrochemical products as monomers.

2. Midstream

The midstream of the biodegradable plastics industry chain is the production of biodegradable plastic products. Biodegradable plastic products include disposable tableware, disposable plastic bags, packaging paper, clothing, agricultural films, 3D printing materials, and medical materials.

3. Downstream

Downstream of the industrial chain is the application of biodegradable plastics, covering areas including packaging, electronics, automobiles & transportation, consumer goods, textiles, agriculture, coatings, 3D printing, modern medicine, architecture & construction, etc.

In recent years, developed countries and regions such as Europe, the United States, and Japan have successively formulated and promulgated relevant laws and regulations to restrict the use of non-degradable plastics through measures such as partial prohibition, restriction, mandatory collection, and collection of pollution taxes, and vigorously develop new fully biodegradable materials. , To protect the environment and protect the soil.

From 2019 to 2020, many countries in Asia have also issued plastic restriction policies, including China, Pakistan, India, the Philippines, Thailand, Algeria and other countries. In the coming period, the demand for biodegradable plastics in Asia will increase rapidly.

PLA and PBAT are the main development directions of biodegradable materials in the future. PLA is one of the most common degradable plastics. The production process is pollution-free, and the product can be degraded into Carbon Dioxide and water without affecting the environment.

PLA also has reliable biological safety, biodegradability, good mechanical properties and easy processing. It is widely used in packaging, textile industry, agricultural film and biomedical polymers and other industries.

PBAT is a thermoplastic degradable plastic, which has good ductility and elongation at break, as well as good heat resistance and impact properties. Because PBAT has good film-forming properties and is easy to blow film, it is widely used in the fields of disposable packaging film and agricultural film. Because of its lower cost of petroleum-based materials, PBAT has more mature technical engineering and lower investment intensity. Combining PBAT's properties, application areas, and production costs, it is expected to become the largest category of degradable plastics in the future.

At present, the representative companies that produce PLA and PBAT in China include Kingfa Technology, Jindan Technology, COFCO Technology, Wangjinglong, Huaxin New Materials, Guanghua Weiye, Fengyuan Group, Hisun Biological, Tianren Biological, Tongjieliang Biological , Hengli Petrochemical, Tongcheng New Material, Yifan Pharmaceutical, Ruifeng Gaocai, Wanhua Chemical, Lanshan Tunhe, etc.

At present, the production scale of enterprises is generally small, and the market concentration needs to be improved

From the perspective of the regional distribution of representative companies in the biodegradable plastics industry chain, the representative companies in the biodegradable plastics industry chain in China are distributed in Shandong, Anhui, Guangdong, Jiangsu and other regions. However, the current production scale of enterprises is generally small, and the market concentration remains to be seen. improve.

The biodegradable plastics industry is an emerging industry. Because the technology construction capital investment can only generate profits after at least a certain scale, small and medium-sized enterprises have limited capital strength and cannot achieve scale cost-effectiveness and market promotion efforts. The product cost is too high. It is difficult to popularize and apply in China. At present, the scale of production of domestic enterprises is generally small, and market concentration needs to be improved. At present, companies with strong production capacity in China's degradable plastics industry chain include Kingfa Technology, Jindan Technology, Hengli Petrochemical, Hengyi Petrochemical, Wangjinglong, Rongsheng Petrochemical, Huafeng Chemical, COFCO, Water Co., Ltd., and Huaxin New Materials, Guanghua Weiye, Fengyuan Group, Hisun Bio, Tongcheng New Materials, Yifan Pharmaceutical, Danhua Technology, Ruifeng High Materials, Oji New Materials, Yutong Technology, Guoen shares, Tianyuan shares, *ST Zhaoxin, etc.