Pulp molded tableware will fill the gap in the disposable tableware market

With the strengthening of the policy of prohibiting the production, sale and use of disposable foamed plastic tableware by relevant state departments, various "green" alternative products have emerged. China Food and Packaging Machinery Industry Association experts believe that after evaluation, pulp molded tableware is the most ideal substitute for disposable plastic tableware.

At the beginning of 1999, the State Economic and Trade Commission included disposable foamed plastic tableware in the first batch of "Catalogue of Eliminating Backward Production Capacity, Technology and Products", which was limited to a total ban on production, sale and use before December 31, 2000. On April 23 this year, in view of the fact that the elimination effect of disposable foamed plastic tableware was not obvious, the State Economic and Trade Commission issued a special "Emergency Notice on Immediately Stopping the Production of Disposable Foamed Plastic Tableware." The strong guidance of national policies and the enhancement of environmental protection awareness in all aspects make the pulp molded tableware as a new alternative industry face broad development prospects.

Relevant departments predict that disposable foamed plastic tableware will be ordered out, leaving a market gap of 15 billion disposable tableware in China every year. It is understood that the current disposable green tableware that can replace foamed plastic tableware mainly includes: pulp molded tableware, cardboard molded tableware and starch blended tableware. Among them, pulp molded tableware is made of annual sugarcane, reed, straw and wheat straw and other herbaceous plant fiber pulp as raw materials, adding food-grade waterproof and oil-proof materials for chemical treatment, vacuum dehydration molding, high temperature, high pressure curing drying, trimming, disinfection and other processes. It has a wide range of raw materials, no pollution in the production process, and can be recycled after use. In comparison, it has outstanding advantages in many alternatives to foamed plastic tableware, and its production scale at home and abroad is also the largest.

Experts believe that China's development of pulp molded tableware industry has the following advantages:

One is rich in straw resources. Domestic annual production of more than 4000 million tons of straw, basically in the abandoned state. If we can use 1% (400000 tons), we can form a daily production capacity of more than 2000 million pieces (sets) of disposable pulp molded tableware, and the annual sales revenue can reach 2 billion yuan.

Second, the level of technology leading. China's paper mold tableware came out in the mid-1990s. After several years of practice and continuous improvement, disposable paper mold tableware in line with Chinese food habits can meet or even exceed the relevant standard requirements in terms of strength, heat resistance, oil resistance, waterproof and other indicators, with an annual production capacity of 3 billion pieces, which is beginning to be accepted by more and more consumers.

Third, the policy orientation is clear. After the State Economic and Trade Commission issued a document to completely eliminate disposable foamed plastic tableware, more than 30 large and medium-sized cities in China have promulgated local regulations to prohibit the production, sale and use of disposable foamed plastic tableware. The Ministry of Railways and other five ministries and commissions made it clear in 1996 and 1998 that the use of non-degradable disposable foamed plastic tableware was prohibited along the railway, traffic trunk roads, river basins and tourist attractions.

Fourth, the market demand is huge. At present, the total production of all alternative products of disposable foamed plastic tableware in China is only 1/3 of that of foamed plastic tableware. The substitute products of some production enterprises are favored by the international market because of their relatively high prices and poor domestic sales. Although some cities restrict the use of disposable plastic lunch boxes, it is difficult to fully implement them because there are not enough and reasonably priced substitutes.

Zhang Yongle, vice president of pulp mold machinery and products branch of China Food and Packaging Machinery Industry Association, analyzed that if the pulp molded tableware industry wants to develop and grow in a short period of time and replace foamed plastic tableware, it must break through the following obstacles: first, the behavior of sacrificing product quality in order to seize the market; Second, the reduction of product cost is restricted by the backwardness of process technology, management level and production scale; third, the lack of energy consumption, reliability and durability of production equipment hinders the improvement of production efficiency; fourth, the problem of product technology and quality stability affects market development. For example, whether the anti-ventilation technology of pulp molded tableware products can be solved will directly affect the shelf life of food and other problems, which need to be increased investment in technical research.