Green Packed New Army--Paper Mold Industry

China's development of the paper mold industry began in the last decade or more. In 1984 Hunan Pulp Molding Plant invested more than 10 million yuan to import a continuous paper mold line from France to produce egg trays. Later, Liaoning, Sichuan, Jiangsu, and other places have introduced paper mold lines from countries such as the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Taiwan. In 1988, the Nanjing Light Industry Research Institute and the Jiangyin Machinery No. 5 Plant developed the domestic paper mold line, which was identified and put into use by the Ministry of Light Industry. From then on, the prelude to localization of equipment was opened. At present, there are more than 40 equipment manufacturing plants in China, of which more than 20 produce fast food box production lines, and each employs injection molding, thermal drying technology, and 10 adsorption drying, hot air and hot-pressing processes. There are more than 200 companies that produce products. At present, there are two major types of domestic production equipment: vacuum forming and injection molding. Vacuum forming method is the most popular method in China. Injection molding is only produced by a few manufacturers. There are three different types of vacuum forming methods depending on the structure: drum type, reverse type and reciprocating type. The most common is the third device. It adopts a simple pulping process. Pulp concentration distribution adopts double-station up and down lift type adsorption molding, artificial shuttle products, drying tunnel drying. This kind of equipment is characterized by simplicity and low investment, but it has low production efficiency, high energy consumption, high labor intensity and poor adaptability of raw materials. It is generally suitable for small-scale production of paper mill scrap containing less impurities. Drum type molding machine is represented by the equipment of the French company El. The line has three levels of separation impurities and pulping process. This kind of equipment has a high degree of automation, high production efficiency, and an annual production capacity of up to 3,300 tons. It has the advantages of low labor intensity, low energy consumption, and stable product quality. China's pulp molded snack box is a new product developed in the past two years. Its performance requirements are very different from those of foreign paper lunch boxes. Foreign paperboard is generally suppressed. It can be said that our paper snack box has Chinese characteristics. The Ministry of Railways has formulated the health standards and physics and chemistry standards for fast-food boxes in the railway system to control "white pollution". After more than two years of practice, it has determined that paper-molded lunch boxes are used instead of foamed lunch boxes, and it is planned for October this year. Japan will basically achieve this goal throughout the entire road. At present, many electronic products, household appliances, and electromechanical products in China use EPS foam as cushioning materials. Although EPS has many advantages, it has drawbacks such as large size, difficulty in recycling, high recycling costs, and incineration. In recent years, many international conventions and new regulations have forbidden or reduced the use of EPS. Many internationally renowned electronics manufacturers have used paper molds as substitutes for product packaging cushioning materials. According to statistics, at present, China has formed an annual output of 20 million color TV sets, of which about 4 million are exported, in addition to 40 million color picture tubes annually, of which 12.44 million are exported. This year also plans to produce 1.3 million microcomputers, 2.1 million video recorders, and a large number of electronic products such as washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners, and electric fans. According to estimates by related departments, only the color TV and picture tube products will consume about 20,000 tons of EPS plastics this year, such as about 1 million cubic meters of volume. At present, the annual EPS consumption of all electronic products in China is difficult to make accurate statistics, but it is undoubtedly an alarming figure. Since the EPS is mostly used once, the consumer can't handle the goods after they buy the goods, discard them in the bin or on the side of the road, and form a "magical" pollution source, causing serious pollution to the environment. At present, the international community is paying increasing attention to environmental protection. Many countries have established environmental protection measures in the form of legislation and promoted the implementation of environmental protection policies in terms of policies, technological development, and the collaborative relationship between theories and companies and consumers. For example, the packaging and environmental protection regulations promulgated by the European Community in 1991 stipulate that polystyrene (EPS) plastics should be avoided in transport packaging and sales packaging and replaced with pulp molded products. China is a signatory to the "Montreal Protocol" and "Vienna Declaration." The "Declaration" and "Protocol" stipulate that our country will achieve the prescribed goal in 2005. In response, China's Environmental Protection Law on Fixed Waste was promulgated on April 1, 1996. The laws and regulations stipulate the principle of "three principles," namely, the promotion of recycling, reduction, and detoxification of solid waste. The use of pulp molded products instead of polystyrene foam products is a manifestation of the principle of three. The National Environmental Protection Agency clearly stated that the promotion of the pulp moulding industry should be promoted. The relevant ministries and commissions also adopted specific measures for promotion and application based on related products. At present, people in the industry are talking about green packaging. The meaning of “green” includes protection of the ecological environment and the recycling of resources. In the past, what people considered more about packaging was its protective attributes to commodities. Now more people are thinking about the impact of packaging on the environment and the rational use of resources. At present, China's main problem in this field is the relative lag in the application of paper molds for industrial products. According to statistics, the total amount of paper mold products used in China is far lower than that of developed countries. The use of industrial products is even less, about only 1-2% of the total. According to investigations, many companies have now closed down and converted their products due to their inability to meet the foreign demands for packaging. Some companies do not know what they are doing because they do not understand the market and do not understand the trend of paper mold development. The lag in the application of industrial products is an obstacle to China’s exports of goods to the country, and it is also an unfavorable factor in the development of the industry.