Under the background of environmental protection, the plastic starch material (PSM) industry has huge development potential

Plastic starch material (PSM), also known as PSM degradable material and PSM starch blend, is a thermoplastic made by modifying and plasticizing corn starch and other renewable resources. PSM has the advantages of biodegradability, good processing performance, non-toxic and harmless, and high/low temperature resistance. It has broad application prospects in the production of cultural and sports products, daily necessities, packaging, shock-proof materials and other products.

The main raw materials of PSM are natural polymer materials such as cellulose and plant starch. Corn starch is widely used in its production process. my country is a large agricultural country with a wide planting area of ​​corn and other crops. Corn starch is the main by-product of corn processing and its output continues to grow. According to statistics from the China Starch Industry Association, the corn starch output of enterprises above designated size in my country will reach 39.18 million tons in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 21.2%. The sufficient supply of raw materials has laid a good foundation for the development of my country’s PSM industry.

PSM does not discharge any sewage, waste residue and waste gas during the production and processing process. Its production process is relatively complicated. It requires blending the raw materials with reactive additives, using a twin-screw extruder for basic operations, and then cutting and cutting at high temperatures. Polymer chemical processing techniques such as esterification, cross-linking, and graft copolymerization are used to modify it and finally produce the finished product. Using plastic molding technology, PSM can also be made into environmentally friendly materials with different uses. With in-depth research and technological advancement, the applicable scope of PSM in my country will be further expanded in the future.

According to the “2023-2028 China Plastic Starch Materials (PSM) Industry Market In-depth Research and Development Prospects Forecast Report released by the Industrial Research Center 》 shows that PSM began to be commercialized in 2005, and it has been widely used in many fields such as cultural and sports products, daily necessities, packaging, and shock-proof materials. The packaging field is the largest demand side of PSM, accounting for nearly 80%. According to statistics from the China Packaging Federation, my country’s packaging market size will reach 1.20418 billion yuan in 2021. In recent years, the Chinese government has attached great importance to the development of the plastic packaging industry and introduced many policies to encourage the use of biodegradable plastic packaging, which has brought broad development prospects to the PSM industry.

At present, competition in my country’s PSM market is relatively fragmented, and the market is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises. The main PSM manufacturers in my country include Wuhan Huali Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Anhui Dingyang Bio-based Materials Co., Ltd., Qingdao Datian Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Suzhou Minghua Sugar Alcohol Co., Ltd., etc. Wuhan Huali Biotechnology has successfully established a complete industrial chain of starch plastics, with an annual PSM production capacity of 30,000 tons.

Industry analysts said that under the background of environmental protection, the development speed of the bio-based plastics industry is accelerating, and PSM is a segment of bio-based plastics. Products and industry development trends will continue to improve. In recent years, Chinese enterprises and related scientific research institutions have continued to increase their research and development efforts on PSM, and its application scope is expected to be further expanded in the future. At present, my country’s PSM market share is low, and the industry still has huge room for development in the future.