On August 3, the Chilean government promulgated the 'ban on plastics'. All supermarkets in the country, shops will not be able to provide plastic bags to shoppers. So, what to replace?
A water-soluble shopping bag developed by a Chinese company using polyvinyl alcohol as its main raw material is expected to become a solution after 'no plastic'.
Shopping bag into the water is dissolved
'Thanks to the materials and technology of the Chinese company, we will be able to produce polyvinyl alcohol water-soluble bags in Chile in the future, providing solutions for Chile's 'plastic mold'. 'In the Chilean capital Santiago, SoluBag general manager Roberto Astete Said to the Xinhua News Agency reporter.
He picked up a shopping bag that looked exactly like a regular plastic bag, put it in a pot of water and stirred it with a spoon. The shopping bag melted into water and turned into a milky white liquid.
This kind of shopping bag is harmless to the human body. Its main raw material, polyvinyl alcohol, is a water-soluble biodegradable material, and the other added materials are all food grade.
The raw material of ordinary plastic bags is polyethylene, the molecular structure is very stable, it is extremely difficult to degrade in the environment, and it is difficult to recycle, which is obvious to the global environmental hazards.
'A common plastic bag takes 400 years to degrade. And a polyvinyl alcohol water soluble bag, degradation takes only 5 minutes!' Astete said.
'If you throw a polyvinyl alcohol water-soluble bag into the sea, it will dissolve quickly and disappear in seawater, and eventually it can be completely degraded into carbon dioxide and water by microorganisms, without causing 'white pollution'. ' Li Lingyu, general manager of New Materials Co., Ltd. said.
Shopping bags are very convenient to handle, just throw them into the washing machine. Even if the child puts the bag on the head, it will not suffocate, and the tongue will break.
Raw materials made in China
At present, polyvinyl alcohol water-soluble bags have not yet been put into production in Chile. Astell's demonstration bags are produced in Qingyuan City, Guangdong Province.
'The raw material for making polyvinyl alcohol water-soluble shopping bags is developed in China. This is one of the projects we have developed in cooperation with South China University of Technology. Now we are working with Chilean companies to make shopping bags, we are responsible for producing raw materials. Technical support is provided. The Chilean company is responsible for the marketing and sales of the products. In the future, the shopping bag raw materials will continue to be the main production base in Qingyuan, Guangdong, and the shopping bags will be produced in Chile or elsewhere and sold to the world. 'Li Lingyu said.
Astete has been doing business in China for more than 10 years. It has been a supplier of alternative materials for plastic bags all over the world for more than 4 years. In 2015, a Chinese equipment supplier introduced Astete to Juyin. The vinyl alcohol water-soluble raw material just meets the demand, and the two sides 'a hit and match'.
At present, the two companies have jointly submitted patent applications for invention patents and utility models to the State Intellectual Property Office of China, in which utility model patents have been approved. They also submitted international patent applications.
Not afraid of rainy days
In a country that is often raining, is it bad to take this shopping bag out of the supermarket?
'No! We can design products with different water-soluble temperatures, from normal temperature of 25 degrees Celsius to 75 degrees Celsius to over 90 degrees Celsius. In countries where it is often raining, you can use products that dissolve in hot water. ' Li Lingyu answers Astete also showed reporters two kinds of polyvinyl alcohol products, one appearance is consistent with ordinary plastic bags, water soluble at room temperature, used to replace plastic bags; the other appearance is consistent with non-woven bags. More than 90 degrees Celsius soluble, used to replace non-woven bags on the market.
Chile's 'Prohibition of Plastics Law' stipulates that since February 3, 2019, all large supermarkets and shopping malls will no longer be able to provide plastic bags to shoppers free of charge or for a fee; as of August 3, 2020, all small and medium-sized micro-businesses are no longer allowed. Provide plastic bags to shoppers. Prior to this, merchants can only provide up to 2 plastic bags per customer. Offenders will be fined.
'Forbidden plastic method' The definition of plastic bags is clearly defined as a bag made of petroleum-derived polymers. Therefore, Chile not only prohibits ordinary plastic bags, but also so-called 'green bags' made of petrochemical substitute materials. And prohibited.
'Polyvinyl alcohol is not in the category of plastics, not from petroleum, but from calcium carbonate or natural gas. Calcium carbonate is a naturally occurring mineral. ' Li Lingyu stressed.
Hope to reduce production costs
According to statistics from the United Nations Environment Program, more than 8.3 billion tons of plastics have been produced worldwide since the 1950s. Currently, 5 trillion plastic bags are used every year, 8 million tons of plastic waste flows into the sea, and some even cause marine life to die. According to this trend, the amount of plastic waste in the ocean will exceed the number of marine fish by 2050. Since human consumption of fish has swallowed plastic, humans are also indirectly eating 'microplastics'.
'If the polyvinyl alcohol water soluble bag is three or four times more expensive than the ordinary plastic bag, I believe that in the 'plastic limited' country, everyone will still not use it. So, mass production, lower costs, and make it the same as ordinary plastic bags. The price is the real solution. ' Astete said.
'Since 2015, we have been optimizing the formula and reducing the cost. If the polyvinyl alcohol water-soluble bag is mass-produced like a normal plastic bag, we can reach the price close to the ordinary plastic bag. ' Li Lingyu said.
Astete plans to set up a plant in Chile, and began mass production at the end of this year, selling to the world.
'There are too many marine plastic wastes today. Chilean Easter Island is located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. We don't litter any rubbish. There are still plastic waste from all directions. 'Tarita, Governor of Easter Island, Valparaiso, Chile · Alarcon told the Xinhua News Agency.
'I sincerely hope that the world can ban plastic bags!' Easter Island resident Lynn Rapp prayed.