Since the invention of plastic bags, they have been widely used because of their lighter weight and good performance. Among them, the development of plastic bag materials is the fastest. Plastic bag materials account for 41% of domestic waste, and this kind of waste is actually “permanent” and cannot be degraded. How to face and how to deal with plastic bag garbage has become a worldwide environmental issue. In addition, in recent years, the shortage of resources and the environmental situation it has faced have become more and more severe. How to reduce dependence on petroleum resources, implement a circular economy, and maintain sustainable development has become a global hot topic in the plastic bag industry.
The use of a large number of plastic bags not only consumes a large amount of petroleum resources, but also releases a large amount of carbon dioxide when burned because it cannot be degraded naturally, which partially caused and aggravated the “color pollution” and the “greenhouse effect”. In order to purify the surrounding environment and eliminate plastic bag waste, people have worked hard to reduce pollution: one is sanitary landfill (using soil to bury garbage); the other is waste utilization. Although sanitary landfills can obviously alleviate environmental pollution, they leave the responsibility of environmental protection to the next generation. Disposal is a more feasible method. Three main methods for degrading plastic bag waste have emerged in the world: incineration and utilization of heat energy, recycling and reuse, and natural degradation. Recycling is the recycling of plastic bags that can be used from the garbage. It needs to go through the processes of sorting, washing, drying, crushing, etc., and finally processed into products. Although it will consume a certain amount of manpower and material resources, it can improve the environment to a certain extent. improve. Regarding the question of how many times these plastic bags can be recycled for processing and how to dispose of them after they cannot be recycled, experts suggest that a large number of plastic bags that can be naturally degraded, recyclable, and harmless to nature and biology should be developed and produced. It is the most fundamental solution to the problem of “plastic bag garbage”.
The development of naturally degradable plastic bags to replace the commonly used ordinary plastic bags became a hot spot in the 1990s, but the development of degradable plastic bags was slow due to cost and technical problems. In recent years, with the advancement of raw material production and degradable plastic bag processing technology, degradable plastic bags, especially biodegradable plastic bags, have received renewed attention and become a bright spot in the development of sustainable and circular economy.
Regardless of whether it is from energy substitution, carbon dioxide reduction, environmental protection and partial solution to the “three rural” issues, the development of degradable plastic bags is necessary and very meaningful.
