The current situation and development trend of fle

The current situation and development trend of China's flexible packaging raw materials

in China, the great development of composite flexible packaging materials is only a matter of nearly 20 years, especially in the past decade, through the large-scale introduction of raw material film production equipment, printing equipment, composite equipment (dry, wet, extrusion, coextrusion equipment and processing equipment), plus the increasing accumulation of production and management experience combined with printing, composite and other post-processing technologies, With the rapid development of the quality and technical level of flexible packaging products, China's flexible packaging industry has completed the road taken by western countries for 50 or 60 years in more than 10 years. By the end of 2002, there were more than 4000 flexible packaging enterprises, and the domestic production capacity of composite film has exceeded 1.5 million tons. Composite flexible packaging materials have become one of the more mature main packaging materials in China

in terms of the production method of composite flexible packaging products, China currently focuses on dry compounding, and more than 250 wide width and high-speed dry compounding equipment have been introduced. Dry compounding products are one of the most affinity packaging forms. They are light, soft, comfortable to handle, suitable for colorful printing, good information transmission effect, easy to generate a good sense of trust for consumers, and are supplemented by a variety of flexible packaging functional materials, It can not only meet the barrier requirements of water vapor, gas, grease, organic solvents and other substances, but also meet the requirements of rust prevention, corrosion prevention, electromagnetic radiation prevention, static electricity prevention, chemical resistance and so on. Therefore, composite flexible packaging is suitable for a wide range of commodity packaging applications, from blocky, granular, powder commodities to liquid and semi-liquid food, aerated beverages, alcohol; From drugs, health care products, medical devices to hardware commodities and toys, from household chemicals, sanitary products, clothing, textiles to military products, such a wide range of applications have led the packaging industry from single packaging materials to traditional packaging, and entered a new era of modern packaging. However, due to the environmental pollution and solvent residue of solvent adhesives used in dry-type composite, dry-type composite materials have been faced with unprecedented challenges, Especially in the past two years, the coordinated development of plastic flexible packaging materials and environmental protection has not only stayed in oral publicity, not just the individual exploration of individual flexible packaging pioneer enterprises, but also many enterprises have participated in and seriously reflected and acted. This paper is based on the author's observations and experiences in recent years, Talk about the current situation and progress of domestic flexible packaging raw materials (films, adhesives, etc.), as well as some relevant views and suggestions

I. current situation of film materials in China

so far, the base film materials used in domestic composite flexible packaging materials, such as pet, BOPP, VMPET, VMCPP, PE, CPP and Al, can not only meet the needs of domestic product packaging, but also some have been exported. Among them, the production of pet and BOPP base film materials reflects the overall level of the whole flexible packaging raw materials, and is also the material that China has focused on in recent years

bopp is the fastest-growing biaxial tensile film in recent years. At present, the processing equipment used by domestic BOPP manufacturers is basically imported. 54 enterprises have introduced 70 production lines, and the production capacity has reached 450000 tons. The peak of equipment introduction was from 1993 to 1997. In these years, the equipment introduced accounted for 90% of the total, mainly including Bruckner of Germany (accounting for more than 50%), Marshall Williams of the United States, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan Despite the continuous expansion of BOPP film production scale and the continuous improvement of quality in the equipment of French DMT and other companies, on the whole, the quality of products is not high, and there is a surplus of medium and low-grade products. BOPP film production enterprises must consider a problem. With the rapid development of quick-frozen food, convenience food and expanded food in China, with the large number of BOPP composite films with exquisite printing and excellent performance, the annual consumption of BOPP is about 100000 tons, which is its largest market, But at present, the peel strength of BOPP composite structures, such as bopp/pe, bopp/cpp, bopp/vmpet/pe, etc., is lower than the standard requirements. Is it because the composite strength of such structures cannot be improved, or is it because of the manufacturing quality of BOPP film, or is the standard formulated too high? A clear answer must be given as soon as possible, otherwise, flexible packaging enterprises and food enterprises adopting this structure will face great production and quality risks, which will inevitably affect the market application of BOPP film. In addition, in order to meet the domestic market demand, BOPP should develop in the direction of diversification and high quality, and constantly develop functional films, such as antistatic, easy to print, easy to compound, heat sealing, etc. there is also a large demand for inorganic filled porous BOPP

there are few professional BOPET production enterprises in China, and the scale of polyester film production equipment is also relatively small. There are less than 30 companies with an annual production capacity of more than 1000 tons. At present, the production capacity is about 100000 tons, 80% of which are produced on production lines imported from Germany, France and Japan. Foshan DuPont Hongji company is the largest BOPET production enterprise in China, with an annual production capacity of 22000 tons, Opal, also known as protein soil, is closely followed by Weifang xinlike Plastic Co., Ltd. with a production capacity of 14000 tons. The largest application market of polyester film in China is flexible packaging composites, accounting for about 50% of the total consumption. Because BOPET film has the advantages of good flatness, excellent sealing, high temperature resistance, strong tensile resistance, good transparency and gloss, the application of BOPET film in the packaging market is rapidly increasing, but the low-temperature heat sealing property of BOPET is poor, which is not as convenient as three-layer extruded BOPP heat sealing film and PE film. BOPET self extruded heat sealing film has been produced in Europe, but has not been produced in China, This is a hot issue concerned by domestic BOPET manufacturers and flexible packaging enterprises in recent years

the inner material of the composite membrane is in direct contact with the packaging, so it is necessary to consider the adaptability, permeability resistance, good heat sealing, transparency, openness and other functions of the packaging. The self insulation wall materials often used in China mainly include bricks, blocks and plates. The development of composite membrane inner materials has experienced three stages from LDPE ordinary membrane to CPP membrane, and now the co extrusion membrane is widely used, which makes the composite membrane inner materials enter a new period of rapid development and functionalization. LDPE or LDPE and LLDPE BLEND resin was first widely used in China. The inner film produced has good heat sealing and moisture resistance, and is still widely used in food packaging such as instant noodles, biscuits, milk powder, pickles, pickles and pickles; In the early 1990s, a large number of casting equipment were introduced in China, and a large number of casting CPP films entered the packaging market. Because CPP has good heat sealing, high-temperature cooking resistance, oil resistance, transparency and fragrance retention, it further expanded the application scope of flexible packaging materials, and also provided technical support for the development of low halogen, low smoke and environmental friendly flame retardant PP, which is widely used in meat and other foods that need high-temperature cooking and sterilization Packaging of puffed food and small food (such as shrimp chips, potato chips, popcorn, etc.); Metallocene LLDPE is successfully developed by Dow Chemical Company. It has good blending and easy processability with LDPE. This kind of blend blown or cast film has better anti sealing pollution, low temperature heat sealing, better impact strength and tensile strength. At present, it has been widely used in liquid packaging and ultra-fine powder packaging such as frozen and refrigerated food, shampoo, alcohol, oil, vinegar, etc., solving the problems of packaging production Problems such as package breakage, package leakage and penetration during transportation; Coextrusion composite film makes flexible packaging materials truly functional and personalized. Manufacturers can customize the packaging structure according to the performance, state, composition, storage conditions and other requirements of the contents, so as to ensure that the food maintains the necessary quality and safety, and is delivered to consumers, such as the application of high resistance heat insulation sealing materials and the application of heterogeneous heat sealing materials. In the past two years, The successful development of single center metallocene catalytic resin and the advent of easy to expand foldable blow molding die have brought the extrusion film into a new stage of development

bony film is widely used in the packaging of high-temperature cooked food, boiled food and vacuum food because of its special properties such as softness and puncture resistance. However, at present, the domestic capacity is far from meeting the market demand, and the price of bony in the market has always been high, and a complete buyer's market has not been formed. Japanese and Korean products occupy a larger market share. The production capacity of domestic bony will be doubled in 2003, This situation will be fundamentally changed, and flexible packaging enterprises can also enjoy better product price services when purchasing bony

II. Adhesives

at present, the adhesives used in the flexible packaging industry include one-component polyurethane adhesives, two-component polyurethane adhesives, acrylic adhesives, solvent-free adhesives, alcohol soluble and water-soluble polyurethane adhesives, etc. the development of China's flexible packaging industry is closely related to the technical progress of domestic two-component polyurethane adhesives. At present, The domestic production capacity of two-component polyurethane adhesives for flexible packaging is nearly 50000 tons, and the actual production in 2002 was about 35000 tons. Ordinary adhesives and some functional adhesives can be completely localized. The two-component polyurethane adhesive with 75% solid content accounts for 60% of the market share. The market of two-component polyurethane adhesive with 50% solid content is shrinking, but it still accounts for more than 30% of the market share. In the special adhesive market with less than 10%, imported adhesives still occupy an advantage. Domestic adhesive enterprises have become mature, their technological development strength has been greatly enhanced, and their products are developing towards functionalization, accounting for more than 80% of the domestic market share. The market competition has also transitioned to the stage of low profit and order. Leading enterprises in the market, such as Beijing GAOMENG, Beijing Chemical Research Institute, Huangyan New Oriental, have emerged. These enterprises have the ability to develop and produce functional adhesives by themselves and have been verified in the market. China's flexible packaging materials are mainly dry-type composite materials. The rapid development of dry-type composite materials has brought great changes to the packaging industry and achieved great economic and social effects. The two-component polyurethane adhesive used in this composite process has mature technology and low price. Its lack is that a large number of solvents are discharged to pollute the environment. In addition, in the composite process, there will always be a small amount of residual solvents left in the substrate, When it is serious, it will produce peculiar smell in the packaging. Under the impact of today's spring tide of environmental protection, environment and development have become a major issue of common concern in the world. Countries have launched a revolution to protect the environment and reduce pollution. Under this background, if the indoor humidity is too high, the traditional polyurethane adhesive has been challenged unprecedentedly, and foreign companies have also introduced environmental friendly adhesives into the Chinese market, Domestic leading enterprises have also made meaningful exploration on environmental friendly adhesives. However, the author believes that in a quite long period of time, polyurethane adhesives will still occupy most of the market share in China, and the amount of solvent-free adhesives will increase significantly in the short term, but there will not be much development. For this reason, in addition to the fact that the performance, price or equipment investment cost of solvent-free adhesives, alcohol soluble and water-soluble products are not as good as the existing two-component polyurethane adhesives, and the domestic base film materials and equipment conditions can not fully meet the coating and drying requirements of alcohol and water-based adhesives, the actual national conditions of our country are also a reason that cannot be ignored, At present, China has introduced more than 30 solvent-free production lines, most of which are in the state of shutdown or semi shutdown. Enterprises with solvent-free production lines are trying to transfer some products to solvent-free equipment for production, which will expand solvent-free viscosity