Gently pull the bag apart like a piece of paper Let the plastic bag degrade into the air
Picking up a white plastic bag, Zeng Fanyan gently yanked the corner of the bag and snapped it. The corner of the bag separated like a piece of paper. The plastic bag lay in the laboratory for 7 months and was made of degradable material.
On May 17th, Zeng Fanian, deputy general manager of the company, said in the laboratory of Zhongya New Materials Company that the plastic bag can be decomposed into carbon dioxide and water under landfill conditions within five months.
The company was completed and put into operation in the Hongan County Economic Development Zone in 2012. It mainly produces plastic bags, toilet paper bags, baby diaper bags, and plastic films. The annual production value is around 50 million yuan.
Zeng Fannian said that at that time, he saw that the plastic bags produced by the company had become white waste that had not degraded for hundreds of years. He hoped that some changes could be made. 'The developed countries have begun to use biodegradable materials to make plastic bags.'
In 2015, through the cooperation of the Provincial Association of Science and Technology, Zhongya Company and the experts of Huazhong University of Science and Technology reached an agreement to use the technology developed by the university to produce biodegradable plastic bag products. At the same time, academic staff workstations were established.
Traditional plastic bags generally use PE (polyethylene) materials. Zeng Fannian introduced that by comparing several kinds of mature basic materials, both parties chose PBAT as the basic material, which accounts for 90% in a plastic bag, and its decomposition form is similar to that of wood. To ensure adequate tension, proper light transmission, depends on another 10% of the formula. He said: 'This is like juice concentrate, the juice that comes out, it's good to drink, it depends on the formula.'
Since 2015, Zhongya New Materials has invested millions of dollars each year to develop biodegradable materials in cooperation with Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Currently, they have developed third-generation products that can be applied in many fields such as industry, agriculture, life, and medical care. In the industry, Zhongya is one of the few companies that have mastered the core technology of producing biodegradable materials bags and plastic film. In the experimental test, the degradability of this degradable material was 26.6% in 60 days, and 75.7% in 180 days, in landfill conditions. The next 360 days can be completely degraded.
Currently, the production of products from degradable materials costs nearly twice as much as traditional materials. Therefore, these products are mainly exported to countries or regions where traditional plastic bags are strictly limited.
Zeng Fannian said that if the cost can be reduced to the level of traditional materials, it is expected to be widely used in China. The transformation of China's economy into high-quality development, the war on pollution, and the degradable materials, must be the future trend. 'Despite R&D The investment is so great that it hasn't produced any obvious economic benefits. We have to stick to it and let the plastic bags degrade into the air.