Since plastics traditionally processed from petroleum are difficult to decompose after being discarded, they cause environmental pollution, and scientists have started research on biodegradable plastics. The successful development of corn plastics quickly attracted the attention of manufacturers and began to try to use corn as raw materials, production and processing into a variety of disposable supplies cups, fast food boxes, plastic bags and so on. Today, many large companies are optimistic about this new eco-friendly material, such as the Coca-Cola Company used 500,000 disposable cups at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, all made of corn plastic. The cup disappeared in the open air in just 40 days. The famous Japanese electrical manufacturer Sony Corporation has been packaging MD discs with plastic paper made from corn for the past two years. New packaging is as beautiful as past packaging, but it will not cause any pollution to the environment after being discarded.
The environmental characteristics of corn plastics, coupled with the rapid increase in the price of oil, have led more manufacturers to shift their targets to corn, which is a large area of ​​agricultural products, and usher in new opportunities for the further development and application of corn plastics.
According to experts, the production of corn plastics is not technically complicated. First, the sugar in the corn is extracted, fermented and removed, and carbon, the base material for making plastics and fibers, is taken out and processed into fine particles called polylactide (PLA). This small particle can be processed into a variety of bags, foam or tableware.
As one of the world's major agricultural products, corn has ample supply. It is not a problem for the United States alone to extract one billion pounds (454 million tons) of polylactide annually in the next 10 years. this means. One-tenth of US corn production will be made into plastics and fibers. According to reports, the US chemical giant DuPont has recently joined the research and development of corn plastics. The company’s research also received US$19 million in financial support from the US Department of Energy.
Although corn plastic is very beneficial to environmental protection, it is more expensive. For example, corn plastic cups produced by the North American Biotech Company are 25% higher than traditional plastic cups. However, the company's president, Frederick, is stupidly stingy. In the year, as the demand for corn plastics increases, the scale of production will expand and the cost will drop.
At present, many countries in the world are increasing the deep processing and utilization of agricultural and sideline products, and the use of agricultural and sideline products to produce environmentally friendly packaging materials has become a research hotspot in the field of scientific research. The application of "biodegradable resins" to replace existing packaging plastics is in full swing. For example, "corn starch resin" which has been successfully researched in Japan and Taiwan in the near future is a kind of green plastic that can replace traditional plastics. This resin is made from corn as raw material, processed and plasticized, and it can be used to make water cups, plastic bags, and commodity packaging. Through experiments, this kind of packaging material can be disposed of through combustion and biochemical decomposition and insect feeding, thus eliminating the danger of “white pollutionâ€.
With the progress of scientific research, the application range of corn plastics is continuously expanding. For example, Dow has begun to provide food containers with plastic containers made of corn. McDonald's Fast Food Company has started to use corn disposable cups, and Japan’s Sony Corporation. It was decided to manufacture a Walkman case with corn plastic. According to expert analysis, to solve the global annual production of plastic products and disposable packaging, to solve the environmental pollution caused by materials requires a lot of social costs, if corn resin can successfully replace part of the traditional packaging plastics, it is estimated that each year will There can be a market of 10 billion U.S. dollars.
Authorities in the industry believe that the rise of corn plastics is a product of the times. The end of the petroleum era has brought a vast market for corn plastics, and the development of high technology is providing corn plastics with a strong market competitiveness.
