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Zeng Cong:Stone Plastics: Starting a Green Revolution in the Plastics Industry
Source: | Author:gfhsforum | Published time: 2017-11-21 | 1242 Views | Share:
Zeng Cong, Chairman of Guangzhou MBS
Environmental Technology Co., Ltd., China

I am honored to be here today to introduce to you the new eco-friendly material of stone plastics. As we all know, plastic is regarded as one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century. It has become so popular that you can find it everywhere, and it continues to develop at an amazing speed. Even though traditional plastic products make life easier, theycause extensive white pollution through excessive use, resistance to degradation and incomplete recycling. This is a thorny problem in urban development for many countries.Despite increased efforts to restrict the use of plastics in recent years, most countries have failed to fundamentally solve the problem at its source.As a major plastics manufacturer and consumer in the world, China produced 77 million tons of plastics last year,which accountsfor 23% of the global plastics output,and discharged about 7 million tons of plastic garbage. Packaging plastics likeplastic film and plastic bags are carelesslythrown away, thuscausing increasingly serious problems like garbage-besieged cities, agricultural film pollution and water pollution.

With the rapid development of the new economy and new growth drivers like E-commerce, Logistics industry and catering industry, the contradiction between the increasing demand for plastics and environment pollution has become increasingly prominent. In response to this, degradable plastics were developed. However, they cost too much to achieve widespread use.The global output of degradable plastics only accounts for about 6% of the total global output of plastics, and they’re mostly used in developed countries.For example, the demand for biodegradable plastics in Europe out of the world’s totalis over 30%in recent years.For developing countries withmore severe white pollution, degradable plastics are luxuries that can’t be effectively popularized. With stone plastic materials, however, we believe that eco-friendliness, performance and cost can’t all be found in a degradable materialhas been shattered. Now, eco-friendly products are usable, affordable and readily available.

MBS usesmasterbatch component ratio technology and polymer blending technology to break through the upper limit of calcium carbonate content in the traditional process. We have achieved an inorganic filling ratio of 70% to 90% in stone plastic masterbatchesand 40% to 60% in finished products.While maintaining the same physical properties in the finished product, only stone plastic materials can reach such ratios.Through the design of positions of key bonds in the inorganic substances,the bonds connecting with organic substances will quickly break during degradation. Thus the speed of light degradation and oxidative degradation will be enhanced. Moreover stone plastics can be degradedin various circumstance including incineration, thrown away in the environment or buried in landfills. The groundbreaking micropore technology of MBS helps to form a loose pore structure of bonds connecting with organic substances, greatly reducing the density of the finished products. With 62 patented technologies that include invention patents, MBS has alsoobtained 8 international certifications, including SGS, REACH, RoHS and FDA, and 5 domestic certifications. Additionally,MBS has been honored with four Provincial High-Tech Product titles. These technical breakthroughs will enable 67% of plastic products to be replaced by stone plastics. Thanks to the overall characteristics of high filling ratio, high performance, eco-friendliness and low cost, the stone plastic products have overcome the limitations of traditional petroleum-based plastics and degradable plastics.

Highly Eco-friendly.MBS stone plastic products are made from the primary material of stone and the auxiliary material of petroleum.By reducing the amount of petroleum used, we can alleviate environmental pollution problems arising from the use of fossil fuels at the source.The carbon footprint tracking and assessment results show that 1 kg of stone plastic masterbatch generates less carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide than a traditional plastic masterbatch. Also, it consumes fewer non-biological resources and the cumulative energy demand is lower. The carbon dioxide generated from producing 1 kg of stone plastic masterbatch is only 62.6% of that generated from producing 1 kg of traditional masterbatch. At the same time, light degradation, oxidative degradation and other degradation technologies have been adopted to make the products degradable in various environments.They caneasily degrade into environment-friendly powderwhen burned, exposed to nature or buried in a landfill.Environmental pollution caused by disposal of plastic productsis minimized. Air, water and soil pollution can be effectively alleviated.

High-performing. MBS also uses micro foaming technology to give stone plastic products a density that’s infinitely close to that of petroleum-based products. The rule that traditional filling materials have a high density has been overcome,it’s arevolutionary breakthrough.Now, stone plastic products haveflexibility, malleability and durability comparable to traditional plastics.Apart from the basic properties of traditional plastics products, stone plastic products have better advantages in tensile strength, elongation at breaking, load-carrying capacity and impact resistance.Stone plastic agricultural films reach the performance indicators without adding weather-resistant agents.

Low-cost. Stone plastics are less dependent on organic high polymers than traditional plastics. Also, they’re made from widely available calcium carbonate and manufactured on more efficient and lower-consuming production lines. Stone plastic production lines boast a 10% to 15% increase in production efficiency, an 8% to 10% reduction in unit product energy consumption and a 15% decrease in maintenance costs.These factors contribute to the lower production costs of stone plastic products and their obvious cost advantages compared to traditional plastic products. They can provide an overall 40% profit increase for the plastics processing industry.Performance assurance and cost advantages have enabled the massive and multi-field applications of stone plastic products.

Highly Compatible:The production process and equipment used for stone plastics arevery compatible with that of traditional plastics. This meanstraditional plastic processing and production lines can be upgraded to produce stone plastics at low costs.The stone plastics industry can achieve mass expansion on the basis of the original supporting equipment, capacity and processes,which will help the plastics industry to upgrade its green capacity without spending too much. Furthermore, the promotion and industrialization of stone plastics can save a lot of old factories that are scheduled to be shut down,this will also boost the sound development of the plastics industry.

Scientific and technological progress shouldn’t harm the environment orcause urban pollution as it makes our lives easier. And it shouldn’t ruin our living spaces with pollution and garbage while it helps us promote community development and prosperity.Science and technology should produce a better and more harmonious environment, allowingboth the environment and society to develop sustainably.  They should also help to make our lives better and better with each generation and highlight the creativity and value of life.MBS is focused on sustainable development. We strive to apply science and technology to projects beneficial to people’s lives and to improving the plastic products used in work and day-to-daylife,making our green scientific and technological achievementsbenefit more areas.

In the future, MBS will provide updated and more innovative technologies and solutions to develop new materials and products. We will increase the inorganic powder content in stone plastic products while maintaining product performance. This will improve degradability and reduce costs even more.Stone plastic degradability will be combined with biodegradability to form high performance, highly cost-effective and completely degradable materials. Furthermore, we will make more efforts in R&D to achieve more widespread application. The ultimate goal is to create a better environment for ourselves and for our children, and help science and technology to play an important role in the harmonious development of mankind and nature.

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