Paper pulp molding and environmental protection

Amidst the world’s growing desire to live in harmony with nature and a growing awareness of humanity’s “global destiny,” environmental protection has long been a topic of study not reserved for experts and scholars. According to a new 2020 study, nearly three-quarters (74%) of consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable packaging. The report surveyed participants about their attitudes toward sustainable packaging and whether they would be willing to pay more for products in environmentally friendly packaging. The research found that most participants consider themselves to be environmentally conscious consumers, with more than two-thirds of them saying that environmentally friendly, recyclable packaging is very important. Of the 74 percent who said they would be willing to pay more for sustainable packaging, nearly a quarter would be willing to pay 10 percent or more for the added cost.

How much you know about pulp molding and environmental protection?

In China, although the pulp molding industry has experienced more than 30 years of development, it is still a very niche category. Only a very small number of people understand what pulp molding is and the huge role it can play in replacing disposable plastics, and some people’s attention is limited to simple packagings such as pulp molded egg trays and lunch boxes. With the further implementation of China’s plastic ban and plastic restrictions, as well as the widespread use of pulp molding products in various fields, the positive role of pulp molding as a green and environmentally friendly technology product, is being recognized and accepted by more and more people.

What is the white pollution situation in China?

Same with other countries, China is also suffering from “white pollution,”. According to statistics, as the world’s top manufacturing country, in 2019, China produced 189.991 million TV sets, 1.7 billion cell phones, 74.33 million washing machines, 77.539 million refrigerators, 218.662 million air conditioners, 210.45 million electric fans, 84.99 million microwave donkeys, and hundreds of millions of other small home appliances. According to other statistics, in 2019, the output of enterprises above the scale of plastic products in China was nearly 81,841,700 tons, while the total processing capacity exceeded 100 million tons, ranking first in the world. People’s clothing, food, housing, and transport almost always involve plastic products, only its waste accounted for 10% of its total output, the amount of waste will also exceed 8.18 million tons, which especially take-out fast food, e-commerce packaging and electrical appliances within the packaging of disposable plastic products is the most huge amount.

Now the domestic major cities, tourist attractions, traffic and rivers, lakes and seas, the abandoned plastic goods can be seen everywhere, landfills are built around the city, the damage to the human living environment and the resulting formation of various types of harm can be described as alarming, which is precisely the “white pollution” has become a “street mouse”. More importantly, the huge harm of “white pollution” not only brings heavy difficulties to environmental protection but also adds an unwarranted economic burden to the country and the people. According to relevant data, the direct and indirect treatment cost of one ton of plastic waste can be up to 10 times more than its original production value. As the research of microplastics on environmental pollution and the human threat is getting deeper and deeper, the hazards of microplastics are gradually surfacing. The latest research shows that microplastics have threatened the survival of marine organisms, as well as the development of tourism, fisheries, and commerce, and there are also increasingly serious potential impacts on human health.

What is the government doing about environmental pollution?

As the international community pays more and more attention to environmental protection, many countries have defined environmental protection measures in the form of legislation and promoted the implementation of environmental protection policies in terms of policies, technological development, theories, and collaborative relationships between enterprises and consumers. In this regard, our country has made a solemn commitment to the world regarding the protection of the human environment. As a country with a large population, China should be at the forefront of efforts to reduce the harm of plastic waste to humans and their environment, and to promote pollution-free industrial products. China promulgated the “Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Solid Waste Pollution,” which stipulates the principle of “trivialization,” that is, the promotion of resourcefulness, reduction and harmlessness of solid waste.

Is molded pulp good for the environment?

Pulp molded products are made of plant fiber pulp or waste paper products that can be fully recovered and recycled as the base material, using a unique process technology to make a widely used in food (medicine), electrical packaging, planting seedlings, medical utensils, handicraft backing, and fragile products liner packaging and other fields of pollution-free green environmental protection products. Under the background of the global plastic ban and plastic restriction, pulp molded products with its raw materials, non-polluting, easy to degrade, recyclable, and renewable distinctive features and environmental protection style is unique, making it stand out in all kinds of plastic material alternatives, not only become a beautiful landscape in the current tide of environmental protection but also become the prevention of one of the most effective ways to prevent and control “white pollution”.

Performance comparison of pulp molding products and foamed plastic products

Many scholars in many countries have conducted experimental studies on pulp molded products and believe that the performance of pulp molded products under certain conditions is better than that of foamed plastic products, pulp molded products, and foamed plastic products performance comparison is shown in the table below.

How is molded pulp packaging made?

Pulp molded products are made from reeds, bagasse, wheatgrass, and other herbaceous fiber pulp or recycled pulp from waste paper products. The nature of natural purity, because of its raw materials relative to the paper industry demand is small (1 ton of pulp can produce 40,000 600mL standard lunch boxes), if China’s fast food industry all switch to paper mold tableware boxes, the total annual need for pulp in more than 1 million tons, manufacturers generally use purchased commercial pulp without their own pulp, so the pulp molding production enterprises themselves generally do not have the problem of environmental pollution generated by pulp. Manufacturers in the purchase back to the pulp after breaking, grinding process, through the molding machine in the proposed shape of the mold, forming the primary blank, and then through the heating and drying, calendering, and other processes that become a complete paper mold products.

UV Tableware’s bagasse tableware products are all food-grade, which ensure the hygiene and safety of the products and have passed a series of international certifications such as FDA, SGS, LFGB, etc. The products have passed a series of international certifications such as FDA, SGS, and LFGB. The rise and gradual popularity of biodegradable pulp molded tableware have played a positive role in regulating urban environmental management, protecting the natural landscape, and preventing “white pollution”. At the same time, other categories of pulp molding products have also made great progress in exploring the development path with their own characteristics, and have found their own roles in various fields of adapting to product packaging materials, laying a solid foundation for pulp molding products to enter the domestic and international packaging markets as soon as possible.

Why is paper pulp molding packaging environmentally?

From the analysis of the production process, the pulp molding products production line generally consists of two major parts of molding equipment and drying equipment, tableware products because of their higher requirements also increase the whole calendering and sterilization equipment. The paper mold molding method is divided into two kinds of vacuum adsorption molding outside the mold and in-mold injection extrusion molding, drying method with the different molding methods are also divided into two kinds.

Outside the mold vacuum adsorption molding is generally used outside the mold drying channel type, in-mold injection extrusion molding mostly in the mold directly heated drying and shaping. After the drying of tableware products is completed, the final process of calendering and shaping should be carried out in order to obtain a straight and neat product appearance. From the point of view of the whole process of pulp molded products production line, because of its production without the pulping process, daily output of 100,000 lunch boxes production line daily water consumption generally does not exceed 20 tons, and can be recycled; its energy design is mainly electrical energy, clean and easy to manage; production of waste products can also be immediately recycled and reused.

Therefore, no matter which production method is adopted, the production of pulp molded products basically has no “three wastes” emission, plus a reasonable water treatment system, basically can achieve zero-emission, the whole production process is free of environmental pollution risks. Of course, if the characteristics of pulp molded products are limited to this, perhaps people’s eyes will not be so concerned about it, the biggest advantage of this type of product is that it can be 100% recycled and recyclable.

Consumers use after the abandoned pulp molding products, can be recycled directly by the waste recycling department, sent to paper enterprises or pulp molding enterprises for production use, paper enterprises if the grass, wood raw materials made from a ton of roughly the same quality of pulp, its production costs will not be less than 2500 RMB. The current level of raw material acquisition and management of small and medium-sized paper enterprises in China, the relatively low cost and good quality of waste paper mold products as raw materials are quite popular. So relying on each central city or tourist city near the paper enterprises and paper mold enterprises, the establishment of waste paper mold products recycling network, the “point” and “line” combined to form a larger recycling coverage. This not only can solve the problem of urban waste pollution, but also can better solve the problem of liquid waste treatment, and greatly improve the utilization level of waste paper mold products. In this way, paper mold products in the optimal allocation of resources and recycling will really achieve the optimal economic goal of sustainable development, and effectively implement the “reduction, harmless and resourceful” environmental protection policy.

If you are a distributor or end consumer of pulp molded tableware, after understanding the environmental characteristics of pulp molded products, you may also want to further clarify “why use bagasse pulp disposable tableware?” You can click here to read the explanation of this topic.

What are the environmental characteristics of pulp molded products?

In summary, we can summarize several environmental characteristics of pulp molded products.

(1) manufacturing pulp molded tableware or high-grade pulp molded industrial packaging products, most of the main raw materials used in annual herbaceous plant fiber pulp, such as reeds, bagasse, wheat straw, straw, cotton straw, bamboo, etc… Such raw materials are widely available, natural cleanliness is not easy to be restricted, will not cause new environmental damage due to the use of wood. At present, the domestic reed, bagasse, wheat straw, and other grass fibers as the main raw materials, annual production capacity of more than 100,000 tons of pulp manufacturers have their own pollution control system, in the issue of raw materials pulp molding production can come out of a “centralized pulp, decentralized production” of the road, not only no environmental pollution problems themselves, and also to obtain a More reliable raw material guarantee. And the use of waste paper raw materials of pulp molding enterprises itself does not exist pulp environmental pollution problems.

(2) The process technology used in pulp molding production is simple and practical, and there are basically no pollution sources in the production process, which meets the requirements of environmental protection production. In addition, the production line processes, except for the management of the self-control system requires high-quality personnel, the rest are skilled technology, after a short period of training can be mastered, coupled with the high degree of localization of its equipment, very conducive to the popularization of the project, which is also a convenient condition for the rapid development of pulp molding products of environmental advantages.

(3) Pulp molded products are used in many fields, with large market capacity and rich potential to be explored, it can be widely used in electrical packaging, planting seedlings, medical utensils, catering and fragile packaging, etc. A compatible paper mold production line can produce products for different purposes with a few improvements in the mold, and its diversified functions and recycling characteristics are beyond the reach of many products with the same purpose. As a large population in China, the prospect of large-scale development of pulp molded products is very broad.

(4) Nowadays, large and medium-sized cities in China are facing increasing pressure on municipal management, among which the disposal of various kinds of plastic waste is one of the important issues. Pulp molded products can be recycled features can mobilize a considerable part of the recycling enthusiasm, so that environmental protection, sanitation, and other departments of the work pressure is greatly relieved, while it has the economic benefits will certainly play a positive role. Pulp molded products in large quantities into the field of daily life will certainly be widely accepted by society and people generally welcome.

(5) Pulp molded tableware as an important branch of pulp molded products, has its own distinctive characteristics, it is more than disposable plastic tableware in favor of environmental protection has many advantages: easy to recycle, renewable, can be self-degradation, from nature to nature, is more typical of non-polluting green products, in line with the times and market needs. At present, the country attaches great importance to the “tableware replacement” work, pulp molding tableware will be listed as the preferred alternative to plastic tableware. From many points of view, paper pulp molded tableware deservedly.

At present, the world’s green wave of protecting the natural ecological environment is rising, the governments and people of developed countries all regard environmental protection as the foundation of the country and the source of survival. As early as 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development made a recommendation that human life and production should be adjusted to be more environmentally friendly and harmless. The Chinese government also established the first research funding for “environmentally friendly materials (cellulose, etc.)” in the National Natural Science Foundation of China in 1999 to help and support research on environmental protection. It can be said that the development and production of pulp molding projects in China not only responds to the development of the times and the needs of society but also reflects the foresight of the government and the pioneering spirit of enterprises; its birth and implementation is not only a manifestation of scientific and technological progress but also the result of human thinking and more friendly environment. Through the unremitting efforts of pulp molding industry practitioners and the strong support of the government and people from all walks of life, pulp molding products will definitely be able to shoulder the glorious and arduous mission of environmental protection and make pulp molding products popular in the new era of green environmental protection.

For more details, please contact UV Tableware for an in-depth discussion, thank you.