The global plastic ban has become a general trend, China as early as December 2007 put forward a plastic limit order to restrict the production, sales and use of plastic products. Today, more than 30 countries and regions around the world or legislation, introduced policies, from restricting the production, sales and use of plastics to banning the production, sales and use of plastics in some areas, the intensity is still increasing.
Pulp molding products formed by annual plant fiber molding have become a hot favorite under the plastic ban and plastic limit situation, and the packaging industry has ushered in a new development opportunity.
In a broad sense, pulp molding refers to the use of pulp, plant fibers and other raw materials through pulp crushing, grouting (or pulping, dredging), molding, shaping (or shaping), cutting, selection, disinfection, packaging and a series of processes through molding made of all kinds of industrial packaging, tableware, agricultural packaging, masks, decorative wall panels and other three-dimensional products, belong to a three-dimensional papermaking.
In a narrow sense, pulp molding refers to simple and low-end three-dimensional products such as industrial linings and egg trays made by using waste pulp molding such as yellow pulp and newspaper pulp.
Characteristics of pulp molding
(1) Raw materials for waste pulp or renewable wheat, reed, straw, bamboo, sugar cane, palm and other plant fibers, a wide range of sources, low prices, to grass instead of wood, completely do not use wood resources, reduce deforestation.
(2) No waste water is generated in the production process and no external discharge.
(3) The product is waterproof and oil-proof.
(4) It can be frozen and refrigerated during use, and can be heated by microwave oven and baked at 220 degrees.
(5) The product can be completely degraded in the natural state within 45-90 days, can be composted at home, and the main component is organic matter after degradation, which will not produce any garbage residue and pollution.
(6) As a packaging container, it has the characteristics of buffering, pressure resistance, shock resistance, etc., which can effectively protect the packaged products.
(7) Packaging electronic products will not produce static electricity.
Classification of pulp molding
(1) According to the process: it is divided into wet pressing, dry pressing and dry and wet pressing mixed process. Wet pressing is transferred immediately after forming to setting for rapid extrusion drying. Dry pressing is formed after drying or special drying equipment for drying and then shaping again.
(2) According to the field of use: fine work bags (such as high-grade electronic mechanical boxes), ordinary work bags (such as egg trays), food packaging (tableware, cake plates, etc.), agricultural packaging (flower POTS, nursery cups, etc.), medical packaging (urinals, kidney-shaped plates, etc.), building materials (decorative wall panels, etc.), entertainment toys (masks, etc.)
(3) According to raw materials: pulp products (yellow pulp, newspaper pulp, etc.), sugarcane pulp products, wheat straw pulp products, bamboo pulp products, wood pulp products, reed pulp products, palm pulp products, melon cane pulp products, cotton stalk pulp products, etc.
(4) According to the molding process: grouting type, dredging type, suction type.
(5) According to the type of equipment: hand motor products, semi-automatic mechanism products and fully automatic mechanism products.
Whether it is the issuance and implementation of the plastic ban and limit order at home and abroad, it provides a broad market space for the development of industrial globalization, and forms a market pattern of production and worry, and sales and insufficient. Government departments such as development and reform, agriculture, science and technology, and finance have encouraged and supported the industry, laying a solid foundation for the rapid expansion of the industry.
The raw materials needed for pulp molding are nearby, reed, straw, cotton stalk, corn, sugarcane, bamboo, wheat, palm, etc., can be used as raw materials for pulp molding, simple materials and low cost.
The meaning of environmental protection not only refers to no pollution, on the other hand, but also to save resources, especially the use of non-renewable resources, has been a topic of discussion in the international community. And wheat, corn, rice, reed, cotton, sugar cane, bamboo and so on as renewable resource raw materials, such raw materials born in nature, and finally natural degradation, return to nature, inexhaustible, so pulp molding products are really from the nature of environmental protection containers.
Compared with foam, plastic, starch based products, pulp molding has its unique advantages:
(1) Renewable raw materials. Sugar cane and bamboo are renewable resources, and for China, both oil and food are scarce resources, so the supply of polypropylene and food will be less and less, the corresponding supply of such products will also decrease, the price will increase, and eventually will be eliminated by the market.
(2) Easy to store. Pulp molding products are dried, can reach 98% dryness, long-term storage will not deteriorate; Starch products contain protein components, which are easily mildewed after exposure to air, so they are not easy to store for a long time.
(3) Completely degradable, no pollution. General PP material tableware is not degradable; The starch products are mostly mixed with talc powder (that is, calcium carbonate), only part of it can be degraded, or it will cause pollution; Foam tableware, is completely not degradable. Therefore, pulp molding products are truly environmentally friendly products.
(4) Higher security. Sugarcane pulp tableware in pulp molding fully meets the various requirements of food containers, does not add any chemical additives in the production process, and does not harm the human body.
With the development of the global economy, the continuous improvement of people's living standards and the change of consumption concepts, more and more people use disposable packaging products, and the number of catering industry demand is the highest. And with the implementation of the global ban on plastic restrictions, international demand is also growing, Japan and South Korea, the European Union, North America and other regions of demand in the annual growth rate of nearly 20%, coupled with some states in the United States in recent years to use pulp environmental tableware financial subsidies, resulting in a leapfrog growth in demand.
The above only introduces the market demand for tableware in pulp molding, but the development of the industry is not only a single development, but more should be the formation of a diversified and multi-field market pattern based on food packaging.
Food packaging as the basis
(1) tableware: pulp molded tableware has been used in catering, entertainment (such as KTV holding dried fruits), all kinds of conference centers, etc. In 2011, the global consumption of disposable degradable tableware was about 63.5 billion pieces; In 2020, global demand will exceed 250 billion. It can be seen that its demand is growing, but also has a lot of room for development.
(2) Baking packaging: The use of wheat, sugarcane and other crops as raw materials, plant fiber cake plate with good hardness, high grade, shape diversification and other characteristics, with the continuous improvement of baked food grade, packaging additional is also higher than ordinary tableware products, the added value of products has greater advantages and space.
Industrial packaging as a pioneer
Industrial packaging (commonly known as paper carrier) is another big application area of pulp molding, and many brands have replaced the original packaging with paper plastic. The main product types are high-grade computer case, mobile phone case, razor lining, precision instrument component lining, makeup case and so on. With the development of the internationalization of electronic products, various countries have also put forward requirements for their packaging, restricting or even prohibiting the use of foaming foam as product lining to reduce white pollution.
Create high-end medical packaging industry
Pulp molding products can also be used in the medical industry, such as paper urinal, paper bedpan, hand guard, and all kinds of drugs, health care products molded inside and outside the box packaging. After use, the product can be broken into paper fibers and discharged into the hospital sewage system to avoid cross bacterial contamination. With the substantial improvement of the medical level, the state's investment in social medical security, a higher degree of hygiene, the use of more convenient disposable medical supplies will be more and more widely used, which creates convenient conditions for the development of renewable pulp molding products.
Promote agricultural pulp molding packaging
In the field of agriculture, pulp molding is mainly used in fruit, poultry eggs, agricultural nutrition bowl packaging, among which the most common is egg trays and flower POTS, seedling cups and other products, such products have no pollution, degradable and other characteristics, but also according to consumer preferences, the fiber dyeing. China is a big agricultural country, the future development of agriculture will inevitably have more national policy support, which also creates favorable conditions for the development of pulp molding.
Enter a new field, lead a new fashion - entertainment toys
New products such as children's masks and animal crafts toys also have the figure of paper pulp molding. Although the market penetration is not very extensive, but also is gradually replacing traditional plastic products, has a lot of room for development.
The development status and challenge of pulp molding industry
With the limitation of plastic products and the needs of fast-paced urban life, the market demand for paper and plastic products is growing, especially the demand for paper and plastic tableware, the global annual growth rate of no less than 50 billion, reaching an unprecedented demand. However, the number of factories producing pulp molded tableware is still insufficient, resulting in low production capacity and short supply. For industrial packaging, agricultural packaging and other fields, pulp molding has also entered the golden period of development, especially the export and import of high-end electronic products.
Labor-intensive, personnel limited industrial development
Although the market demand for pulp molding industry is great, it is mainly concentrated in China, Vietnam, Thailand and other countries and regions, the main reason is close to the raw material base on the one hand; On the other hand, the labor force is cheaper than that of developed countries, and the labor resource is rich. The root cause of the labor-intensive pulp molding industry is the slow pace of development of industry equipment and technology, and the low degree of automation, which has caused a large demand for personnel. Pulp molding industry in China is mainly divided in Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Guangxi and other provinces and cities, most of them belong to the industrial or commercial more developed areas, so the lack of labor limits the sustainable development of the industry and the scale of the expansion, has become a bottleneck in the development of the paper mold industry.
High energy consumption, especially the consumption of heat and electric energy since the development, the energy consumption of heat and electric energy has been a major cost item, accounting for about 20-25% of the total cost. Especially in the dual-control and carbon neutral situation, coal, biological particles, and even natural gas heating methods are limited, so that paper and plastic factories in some areas can only rely on electric heating methods, which are extremely high cost and energy consumption, and have lost their competitive advantage in the market competition.
The overall development speed of the pulp molding industry is slow, one of the reasons is that enterprises, colleges and universities, research institutions and other lack of research and development power and funds, making process technology research and development, equipment update is very slow, and even some enterprises are still using the pulp molding production equipment and process 15 years ago. Therefore, the industry needs more advanced process technology and equipment to lay the foundation for long-term development.
The lack of talents limits the rapid development of the industry Without excellent talents, it is difficult to have cutting-edge technology, without cutting-edge technology, there is no competitive products, only more social forces, colleges, research institutes, enterprises themselves and other outstanding talents began to shift their attention to the development of industry technology and talent training, gradually establish the industry's talent echelon, cultivate high-quality talents, In order to realize the leap from quantity to quality of the industry.
Fighting alone, the development and cultivation of the industrial cluster market need a long-term process, and there are few people willing to accept this process, so in the early development of a small number, scattered distribution, there is no large-scale and cluster conditions, in the supporting facilities, front-end raw materials supply and other industrial links are still high cost, high energy consumption and other characteristics. At the same time, the production of products is single, homogenization is very serious, most of them are limited to the production and processing of conventional products, lack of competitiveness, and internal consumption is large. Therefore, the development of the industry should give play to their respective advantages, the combination of strong and strong, and the development of unlimited market with low cost and light asset input.
In order to achieve sustained and rapid growth and increase market share, the pulp molding product industry needs to publicize the environmental protection characteristics of pulp molding from market positioning, product innovation, marketing strategy, industry chain integration, so that more people understand that pulp molding is environmentally friendly and sustainable. To protect the environment and reduce the value of plastic pollution, to promote global, national policy support and other aspects.
Through in-depth understanding of market demand, product innovation and differentiated competition, formulation of effective marketing strategies and promotion channels, integration of industrial chain resources and sharing of resources, maintaining continuous innovation and improvement, and other ways to continuously improve the competitiveness and market share of the industry, pay attention to the government's environmental protection policies and industrial policies, and strive for policy support and financial support. Only in this way, the pulp molding products industry can gradually develop into a mainstream industry with a larger market share.
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