Recently, China’s several cities such as Shenzhen, Chengdu, and Hainan have further strengthened regulations on non-degradable plastic products. For example, starting from 2025, the use of non-degradable disposable plastic bags will be prohibited, along with the ban on the sale of disposable foam plastic tableware and polyethylene agricultural films with a thickness of less than 0.01 mm. On November 16, European Bioplastics also proposed a global ban on oxo-degradable plastics to ensure the achievement of future carbon neutrality goals. They emphasized the crucial role of bioplastics in ending plastic pollution.

Under the pressure of achieving carbon peak targets, China have continued to introduce new policies to protect the environment, as well as push for the development of biodegradable plastics. Among various types of biodegradable plastics, polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT) has matured technologically and offers better cost-effectiveness, making it a major player in the biodegradable plastics market. Currently, PBAT is primarily used in the field of packaging bags and agricultural films. In recent years, global plastic production has been on the rise. From 2015 to 2018, the growth rate remained at around 3%-4%. In 2019, the chemical industry faced a downturn, resulting in a growth rate of 2.5%. In 2020, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the growth rate by 0.3% year on year. It is expected that with the stabilization of the pandemic and gradual economic recovery, global plastic production will continue to grow. China is the largest producer and consumer of plastics globally. From 2015 to 2020, the consumption of plastic products in the retail industry in China ranged from 6 to 7 million tonnes, and the usage of agricultural plastic films (including mulch films and greenhouse films) exceeded 2 million tonnes, demonstrating a vast market potential. Tongde Kechuang’s integrated PBAT project has recently made good progress, with approximately 78.6% of the overall project completed. The construction and installation work would be mostly finished by the end of this year, and the entire project is planned to be fully completed and put into operation by May 1, 2024.

However, biodegradable plastics currently represent only 1% of Chinese plastics production, indicating a significant room for growth. With the continuous tightening of policies, China’s biodegradable plastics sector has great growth potential in the future.