Impacts of “Plastic Limit Order” on PP Demand

SCI99

2020-04-24

Impacts of “Plastic Limit Order” on PP Demand

Preface: To solve the problem of white pollution systematically, strengthen the environmental supervision of waste plastic recycling process and encourage the environmental recycling of waste plastic bags, “Plastic Limit Order” has been released. Then, on January 19, Opinions on Further Strengthening the Treatment of Plastic Pollution (known as upgraded version of the “Plastic Limit Order”) was published. Which plastic products will be banned and restricted?

On April 15, it was learned that the National Development and Reform Commission solicited opinions from the public about Plastic Products Catalogue that was prohibited and limited in production, sales and use (Consultation Draft) (hereinafter referred to as Consultation Draft).

It is planned to prohibit the production and sale of daily chemical products containing plastic beads, non-degradable disposable plastic tableware, non-degradable express packaging, etc. The Consultation Draft refined the policy limitation and implementation standards, and the solicitation time is from April 10 to April 19.

The new version of Beijing Municipal Waste Management Regulations will be implemented from May 1, and domestic waste classification and reduction are going to be conducted. It is strictly forbidden to sell or use ultra-thin plastic bags. Supermarkets, shopping malls and bazaars are not allowed to provide plastic bags for free. Such activities are within the scope of supervision and inspection.

Clear refinement standards

Planned to ban the production and sale of daily chemical products containing plastic beads

This catalogue involves two categories of plastic products that are prohibited from production and sale and those that are prohibited or restricted from use.

The list of plastic products prohibited from production and sale includes six categories such as ultra-thin plastic shopping bags with a thickness of less than 0.025 mm, polyethylene (PE) agricultural mulch with a thickness of less than 0.025 mm and a thickness of less than 0.01 mm, plastic products made from medical waste, disposable foam plastic tableware, disposable plastic cotton swabs and daily chemical products containing plastic beads. The refinement criteria are also given.

Among them, the daily chemical products containing plastic microbeads refer to rinsing cosmetics (including shower gel, facial cleanser, and hand washing, soap, shaving foam, scrub, shampoo, conditioner, makeup remover, etc.) that intentionally add solid plastic particles with a particle size of less than 5 mm and toothpaste, tooth powder for scrubbing, exfoliating, cleaning, etc.

To forbid non-degradable disposable plastic tableware while eating in restaurant

The catalogue of prohibited and restricted plastic products includes five categories of non-degradable plastic bags, non-degradable disposable plastic tableware, non-degradable disposable plastic straws, disposable plastic supplies for guesthouses and hotels and express plastic packaging.

Prohibited and restricted non-degradable disposable plastic tableware includes non-degradable disposable plastic fast food containers (including lids), bowls (including lids), cups (including lids), plates, dishes, knives, forks, spoons, etc.

Most plastic straws are produced from PP raffia materials. Taking a large domestic straw company as an example, the annual capacity of straws is more than 20 billion, and the annual consumption volume of PP is about 9.005kt. Statistics show that China’s daily consumption volume of straws is between 400 million and 500 million. According to this calculation, China’s domestic production of straws consumes about 90kt of PP resources each year. In 2019, China’s PP raffia output was about 7.37 million tons. The PP raffia consumption volume in straws production accounted for 1.2%. Due to the small base, the impact on the overall demand for PP is limited.

Prohibited and restricted disposable plastic products in guesthouses and hotels include consumable plastic products used in hotels, restaurants, guesthouses, guest rooms and other places, such as plastic combs, toothbrushes, soap boxes, sewing boxes, shower caps, washing care container (such as bath bottles, shampoo bottles, moisturizer bottles, etc.), laundry bags, etc. In addition, packaging bags, woven bags, adhesive tape and non-degradable express packaging are unusable.

Express packaging uses more non-degradable plastic bags.

The opinion pointed out that by the end of 2022, postal express outlets in key regions will first forbid the use of non-degradable plastic packaging bags, disposable plastic woven bags, etc. to reduce the use of non-degradable plastic tape. By the end of 2025, the scope of implementation will be expanded.

Therein, the non-degradable plastic packaging bag refers to the non-degradable plastic packaging bag used for loading express items during the express delivery process.

Non-degradable disposable plastic woven bag refers to a disposable non-degradable plastic packaging bag made of plastic woven cloth (or plastic woven cloth and plastic film, paper, etc.). That is used to load express items during the express delivery process. Besides, non-degradable plastic tape refers to the non-degradable plastic tape used for express packaging.

According to SCI, most of the disposable plastic woven bags are produced from recycled PP, which are of poor quality and cannot be recycled. Some large express companies’ decentralized centers have already realized the recycling of woven bags, and the number of cycles has reached more than 20 times. The quality of these woven bags is better, and they are usually produced from virgin PP. According to the requirements of the courier company, the woven bags produced by recycled PP are about 40-120 grams per article, while the recyclable woven bags produced by virgin PP are generally about 300-500 grams per article, and the weight is significantly increased. This shows that the use of recycled PP will be reduced, and part of the demand will be turned to virgin PP, increasing the consumption volume of virgin PP.

The tape used in the express delivery is BOPP tape, which is a layer of butyl acrylate pressure-sensitive glue coated with BOPP as the substrate. According to SCI, China’s BOPP output in 2019 was about 3.5787 million tons, and the consumption volume of BOPP in the tape industry accounted for about 24.64% of the total. Moreover, the tape consumption volume in the express delivery industry accounted for about 9% of the total tape. Therefore, only from the data, the PP resources involved in this field are about 80kt.

Based on the above analysis, the PP-related fields involved in the Plastic Limit Order currently take a small proportion in the total PP consumption volume, and it will take a period of time for the policy to be fully implemented after the policy is released. The short-term impact on the PP market is not obvious. In the long run, disposable fast food containers and tapes for express delivery are emerging industries with relatively rapid development, and their future contribution to the PP consumption will be limited.

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