The biodegradable industry is rapidly emerging.

The company currently has 150 bamboo straw production machines, with an annual output of 2 billion bamboo straws. These straws can replace 2 billion plastic straws and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by over 60,000 tons. By 2030, the company expects bamboo straw production to reach 30 billion straws, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 1 million tons.

In October 2023, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and other relevant departments released the "Three-Year Action Plan for Accelerating the Development of 'Bamboo-for-Plastic' Products," which stated that by 2025, a preliminary "bamboo-for-plastic" industrial system will be established, with output levels essentially remaining stable compared to the previous year and roughly on par with those of 2022. The comprehensive added value of key "bamboo-for-plastic" products will increase by more than 20%, and the overall utilization rate of bamboo materials will rise by 20 percentage points. Meanwhile, "bamboo-for-plastic" products will be included in the scope of government procurement support, and the intensity of government procurement will be stepped up. Public institutions and other entities are encouraged to actively procure related "bamboo-for-plastic" products.

The product catalog covers seven major categories of daily-use items, including bamboo shells, bamboo stationery, bamboo bath products, bamboo furniture, disposable bamboo tableware, durable bamboo tableware, and bamboo biodegradable bags, as well as 53 types of industrial materials and 5 types of construction materials.

As China continues to advance bans and restrictions on plastics, the issue of plastic alternatives has become unavoidable. To this end, China is actively promoting the research and development of biodegradable tableware plastics and encouraging the substitution of these products. At the same time, we are starting to leverage our abundant bamboo resources and vigorously pushing forward the initiative of "replacing plastic with bamboo."

According to publicly available information from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, China’s bamboo forest area currently exceeds 100 million mu. By 2023, the output value of bamboo forests is expected to surpass 500 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate exceeding 30%. By 2035, the output value of the bamboo industry is projected to exceed 1 trillion yuan. Currently, bamboo forests nationwide can sequester 197 million tons of carbon annually and fix 105 million tons of carbon. If the world were to replace 600 million tons of plastic products with bamboo each year, it could potentially reduce carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 4 billion tons. In addition to substituting bamboo for finished products themselves, the substitution of plastic raw materials is also underway. The mainstream approach of replacing plastics with corn starch and plant fibers is now widely used in products such as plastic bags and biodegradable lunch boxes. This method is being employed to address the issue of plastic degradation.

According to a report by the China Institute, driven by the continuous strengthening of plastic restriction policies, China's total market demand for biodegradable plastics is expected to reach 4.4 million tons by 2025—more than nine times the demand in 2018. If calculated at a unit price of 20,000 yuan per ton, the market size will approach 90 billion yuan.

Regional development is betting on the plastic reduction industry, while remaining vigilant about overcapacity at the low end.

The reporter learned that currently, specialized industrial clusters for bio-based new materials are under construction or have already been established in Dongguan (Sichuan), Shouguang (Shandong), Bengbu (Anhui), Taiyuan (Shanxi), and other regions, aiming to build an industrial system centered on bio-based platform compounds, bio-based plastics, and bio-based fibers.

Before 2019, the production and sales of biodegradable plastics in China grew slowly. However, with the introduction of the second edition of the “Plastic Ban” and the advancement of the “Dual Carbon” policy in 2020, the growth rate of China’s biodegradable plastic production and sales significantly accelerated.

According to a report by China Research and PwC, in 2021, China’s production and sales of biodegradable plastics reached 302,000 tons and 276,000 tons, respectively, representing an increase of over 20% year-on-year. It is projected that the capacity under construction will exceed 4 million tons per year. At the same time, the report points out that currently, the variety and cost-effectiveness of biodegradable plastics on the market still fall short of those of conventional plastics, thereby limiting the scope of their application. Furthermore, in accordance with the requirements of the second edition of the “Plastic Ban,” which prohibits and restricts the production, sale, and use of certain plastic products, if the planned capacity of 4 million tons per year for biodegradable plastics is brought online as scheduled, it will soon surpass the most stringent policy requirements for the use of biodegradable plastics, potentially leading to overcapacity by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period.

Meanwhile, the report shows that the global market for biodegradable plastic alternatives is still in its early stages of development, and market penetration urgently needs to be improved. Among these plastics, fossil-based plastics still hold the largest market share, accounting for 75%, while biodegradable plastics account for only 1%, leaving considerable room for growth in the market.