The plastic packaging industry is developing towards functionalization, greening, and reduction, which is both an opportunity and a challenge for the chemical industry. If supporting chemical products want to open up new market share in this field, it is necessary to increase the development and promotion of related materials. Plastic packaging is both an opportunity and a challenge for the chemical industry. As one of the most direct downstream industries in the petrochemical industry, the upgrading and technological progress of plastic packaging highly rely on the support of chemical products. At the same time, with the improvement of people's living standards and the increasing demand for personalized consumption, plastic packaging has also put forward higher requirements for chemical products.

The plastic packaging industry is developing towards functionalization, greening, and reduction, which is both an opportunity and a challenge for the chemical industry. If supporting chemical products want to open up new market share in this field, it is necessary to increase the development and promotion of related materials.

Plastic packaging is both an opportunity and a challenge for the chemical industry

As one of the most direct downstream industries in the petrochemical industry, the upgrading and technological progress of plastic packaging highly rely on the support of chemical products. At the same time, with the improvement of people's living standards and the increasing demand for personalized consumption, plastic packaging has also put forward higher requirements for chemical products. Functionalization, greening, and reduction have become the direction pursued by the plastic packaging industry, and the accompanying chemical products will also usher in more development opportunities.

Functionalization:

The demand for specialized materials is increasing rapidly, with usage accounting for over 30% of the total

According to Chen Changjie, Deputy Director and Secretary General of the Plastic Committee of the China Packaging Federation and Secretary General of the Green Packaging Committee of the Shanghai Packaging Technology Association, it is estimated that plastic packaging materials currently account for over 30% of the total amount of various packaging materials, second only to paper products. At present, the application of plastic in food packaging materials in China has exceeded 50% of the total amount of food packaging materials, ranking first among various packaging materials.

"At present, the development of China's plastic packaging industry has reached a critical period, and downstream industries will also put forward increasingly stringent requirements for plastic packaging film materials. In the case of a large surplus of ordinary films, some high value-added functional films still need to be imported in large quantities. The demand for matte films, high gloss films, heat sealing films, heat shrink films, high resistance membranes, anti UV radiation films, anti-static films, flame retardant films, etc. in the industrial field is growing rapidly." said Wang Dejun, Secretary General of the BOPET (Biaxially Stretch Polyester) Special Committee of the China Plastics Processing Industry Association.

In the food industry, the role played by plastic packaging cannot be underestimated. Li Dongli, Director of the Packaging Research Office of the Key Laboratory of Beijing Institute of Printing, said that China is a major producer and consumer of fruits and vegetables, but its decay rate also ranks among the highest in the world. The loss rate of fruits and vegetables in developed countries is less than 5%, while the loss rate in China is as high as 20% to 30%. Functional preservation materials have a large market in our country. At present, the use of advanced preservation materials in packaging in the United States can increase fruit value by 2.4 times, while the average increase in value in China is only 0.4 times. Functional preservation packaging in the future has good market prospects in China.

In the future, the food industry will focus on high barrier, cooking resistance, UV resistance, light avoidance, antibacterial, breathable, and oxygen resistant functions