In modern society, the use of new materials for packaging products is an important means for companies to introduce new products, improve product quality, and enhance product market competitiveness. Especially for food packaging materials, in addition to the need to benefit people's health, the protection of the ecological environment from pollution has become increasingly loud. The development and application of biaxially oriented polystyrene (BOPS), a new type of environmentally friendly food packaging material, is suitable for people's needs.
BOPS environmental protection packaging materials are characterized by its unique high transparency, high strength, odorless and low permeability to water and moisture, strong moisture barrier, barrier properties, excellent freshness retention and better electrical properties, and with its It is beautiful, lightweight, light weight, and has many advantages such as non-pollution of the ecological environment and production, and gradually eliminates PVC and foam packaging products that are widely used today. At present, more and more developed countries and regions have legislation banned the use of PVC and foam products as packaging materials in direct contact with food, thus establishing the statutory status of BOPS environmental protection packaging materials for industrial products and household products, especially food packaging. .
As BOPS environmental protection packaging materials have been widely recognized and widely used in advanced countries in the world, the internal packaging of China's export food and health products all use this kind of environmental protection materials. However, the use of BOPS environmental protection packaging materials in the domestic market has only just begun. With the continuous deepening of China’s economic reforms, people’s material and cultural lives have also undergone tremendous changes. The Chinese have also put forward higher requirements for packaging materials. In addition to being beautiful, practical, and inexpensive, they ensure good health and protect the ecological environment. Being uncontaminated has also become a basic requirement. The environmental protection departments of the national and local governments and the civilian population also put the “white pollution†issue on the agenda. Experts also conducted research and discussion on this issue, so environmental protection has become a topic of general concern in society.
Topic 1: Many people believe that “degradable†plastic products, “degradable†corn leaf shell products and “degradable†food packaging materials made from rice and flour are the best environmental products. However, in practice, people have found that the advantage of “degradable†is easily transformed into the disadvantages caused by food packaging. "Degradable" itself is achieved through weathering, actinic, mildew, microbial sensitization and other natural deterioration, degeneration, which is precisely the most taboo "food hygiene" problem of food packaging. This fundamentally negates the use of "degradable" packaging materials in food packaging. Therefore, the United States and Japan have also invested heavily in the development of "degradable" food packaging materials in the 1980s.
Topic 2: There are also many people who believe that using advanced paper materials to make food packaging will not only solve the problem of "degradation" but also meet the hygiene standards. But people have also found that paper itself has many links in its production process. Not only does it require a lot of wood (China is a country lacking wood resources), but the production process of pulp also causes greater pollution to the ecological environment. The state has already strictly controlled it. The resulting high cost of packaging, and the difficulty in popularizing it, has generally made it weaker.
While we lectured on environmental protection packaging materials, the consensus of everyone is that the PVC and foam tableware being used have brought a series of problems to the environment and human health:
Problem 1: Injury to people's health. The vinyl chloride monomer and additives contained in PVC foam tableware's own materials have a great influence on human health, and can easily cause diseases such as cancer and bronchitis. The rich oil, salt, vinegar, and other ingredients in the food more promote the distribution of trace toxins.
Question 2: Cause "white pollution" to the social ecological environment. The chlorine emitted from the discarded PVC foamed products during the recycling process is toxic, causing serious damage to the atmosphere. The foamed material cannot be reused, and burying has the characteristic of “a hundred years of constantâ€. As a result, the problem of disposal of waste products is caused.
In the above comparison, two other advantages of BOPS's new environmentally-friendly materials are revealed: 1. BOPS materials can be reused after being recycled and can be made into daily-use articles; 2. Recycling wastes In the process of nuclear incineration, only water and carbon dioxide are produced without any toxic substances. Therefore, BOPS environmental protection packaging materials have been approved by the International Health Organization, and have passed US FDA standards and Japanese health products, becoming a packaging material that can be directly contacted with food. In the future, BOPS environmental protection packaging materials have become a trend for food packaging.
As BOPS environmental protection packaging materials have broad prospects for development, there are several companies in China currently engaged in the production and use of BOPS materials. The price of BOPS environmental protection packaging materials is now lower than PVC materials, so this is more conducive to the promotion and application of BOPS environmental protection packaging materials. (Zhu Yongjing)
Excerpted from China Packaging Yearbook 1999