Overview of the development of China’s modern pulp moulding industry

Development of China’s modern pulp moulding industry

The development of China’s modern pulp moulding industry has a history of more than 30 years.

1984, Hunan Pulp Moulding General Factory invested more than 10 million RMB to introduce a drum-type automatic pulp moulding production line from the French company Elle, mainly for the production of egg trays, creating a new situation for the introduction, digestion and absorption of pulp moulding equipment and product production in China. In 1988, the first domestic pulp moulding line developed by Nanjing Light Industry Research Institute and Jiangyin Machinery Factory No. 5 passed the appraisal of the Ministry of Light Industry and was put into production, thus starting the localisation of pulp moulding production equipment. In 1990, pulp moulded plastic products were already widely used in the packaging of eggs and fruits. 1993, pulp moulded plastic products were developed into packaging for industrial instruments, electronic components, household appliances and kitchenware. In 1993, two pulp moulded plastic industrial packaging production lines were put into operation at Dalian Jiayou Packaging Products Manufacturing Co Ltd, specifically to provide packaging for Canon products. In 1993, the Dandong Biodegradation Application Technology Research and Development Centre invented the “Environmentally Pollution-free Food Packaging and its Manufacturing Method” (Patent for Invention: ZL 91010.) using the principle of pulp moulding technology to produce single-use food containers or tableware products by means of vacuum adsorption moulding of pulp and other materials, and in 1994 In May 1995, the Ministry of Railways banned the use of disposable foam tableware in railway stations and trains and replaced it with biodegradable and easily recyclable materials.

After 1995, under the impetus of the Ministry of Railways’ Department of Labour and Health, more than a hundred enterprises produced pulp moulded tableware throughout China, and these enterprises played a great role in promoting the development of China’s pulp moulding industry.

With the gradual development of the pulp moulding industry in China, there is a concentration of manufacturers of pulp moulded plastic liner packaging products in the large and medium-sized coastal cities in the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong.

In 1994, the Hong Kong-based company, Paul D. Packaging Ltd, invested in Dongguan and set up its first industrial pulp moulding production line. Guangzhou Yuanlong New Packaging Products Co Ltd and Guangzhou Xingguang Environmental Protection Centre Co Ltd are also early and influential contributors to the pulp moulding industry. In Hunan, Shandong, Henan and Beijing, there is a concentration of pulp moulded egg trays and fruit trays manufacturers, and a number of manufacturers have emerged to design and manufacture pulp moulded plastic production equipment. According to incomplete statistics, China is currently engaged in the production of pulp moulding machinery and products manufacturers and research and design institutions more than thousands, involving packaging, paper, printing, machinery, chemicals, electronics, railways, transportation, ships, aviation and education and other industries and sectors throughout the country.

According to data from SkyEye on 31 December 2020, there were 1,636 pulp moulding-related enterprises, 1,20 enterprises related to paper trays, 2,071 enterprises related to egg trays and 10,808 enterprises related to vegetable fibres in China. These enterprises are mainly concentrated in the Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta and the Bohai Sea region, while pulp moulding enterprises in the central and western regions are also developing very fast.

In terms of pulp moulding equipment manufacturing, Guangzhou Huagong Huanyuan, Foshan Bishuo Technology, Zhejiang Eurasian Light Industry, Guangzhou Nanya and Hunan Shuanghuan have become equipment manufacturing enterprises with strong comprehensive strength in the pulp moulding industry. In addition to supplying the domestic market, the pulp moulding equipment produced is also exported to the UK, France, Russia, Iran, Mexico, Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Malaysia, Argentina. Egypt, Canada, India and other countries.

Dongguan Huilin, Changzhou Dile, Yutong Technology, Far East Environmental Protection and other enterprises in the direction of equipment and products together, towards a comprehensive whole industry chain development mode, is a set of paper often mould alliance machinery and equipment manufacturing, product design, product development, mould manufacturing, product production and sales as one of the leading enterprises, can provide users with high-end packaging overall solutions.

In terms of pulp moulded plastic products production, Yongfa Printing, Jielong Group, Suzhou Golden Arrow, Dongguan Shiben, Dongguan Stora Enso, Chongqing Kaicheng, Foshan Wenda, Foshan Kunboda, Shanying Group, Shenzhen Everbright Tongchuang, Guizhou Greendure, Fushan Paper and other enterprises mainly focus on pulp moulded plastic industrial packaging. And Shabert, Shaoneng Oasis, Zhejiang Jinsheng, Zhejiang Zhongxin, Guangxi Fusipai, Guangxi Qiaowang, Guangxi Huaxuan, Zhejiang Home Depot, Jinan Shengquan, Shandong Quanlin, Hubei Straw Technology, Shandong Lanwo, Shandong Tianhe, Hangzhou Tomato, Zhejiang Lusen, Longyan Green Olive, Dalian Songtong Chuangcheng and other enterprises are mainly concerned with pulp moulded plastic catering packaging. And pulp moulded egg packaging, fruit packaging products enterprises are basically confined to the local. Another focus on straw seedling tray of Hubei Nishimi technology, focus on pulp moulding cultural products of Guangzhou Chuang Yi, focus on paper watering duct tube and paper bottle of Changzhou Wanxing, focus on pulp moulding decorative board of Beijing Tong Lanhai, focus on medical pulp moulding products of Zhejiang Shu Kang, focus on agricultural products pulp moulding packaging of Shanghai Ying Zhenghui, focus on heavy duty cushioning packaging of Jiangsu Straw Bao new materials, etc., are in the pulp moulding industry segments have made their contribution. Other companies such as Suzhou Aisi Tai, which focuses on pulp moulding back-end processing equipment, Xingtai Shunde, which focuses on pulp moulding chemicals, Foshan Shuangzhi Machinery, which focuses on pulp moulding laminating equipment, and Shenzhen Weitu Digital Technology, which focuses on colour printing of pulp moulding products, also play an important role in supporting the pulp moulding industry and upgrading products.

In January 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Ecology and the Environment issued “on the further strengthening of plastic pollution control opinions”, which is the main goal: by the end of 2020, take the lead in some areas and fields to ban the production, sale and use of some plastic products, by 2022, the consumption of disposable plastic products significantly reduced, its alternative products are promoted and used, by 2025, the generation of plastic By 2022, the consumption of single-use plastic products will be significantly reduced and the use of their alternatives will be promoted. In the new situation of widespread implementation of plastic ban and plastic restriction, pulp moulded products have become one of the main alternatives after the “plastic restriction” due to their excellent environmental protection and degradable performance. As a result, many domestic manufacturers have invested heavily in the pulp moulding industry.

In the pulp moulded plastic catering and packaging segment, in 2020, Mountain Eagle International and Gately Environmental Technology jointly invested RMB850 million to build a bamboo pulp moulded plastic tableware and packaging products production project in Yibin, Sichuan. Gately Environmental Technology has made additional investments on the original scale to expand its production capacity to achieve annual sales revenue of RMB 600 million. Fujian Greenway Environmental Protection and Guangzhou Oasis (China Shaoneng Group) jointly invested to build a pulp moulded plastic environmental tableware annual production capacity of 40,000 tons, sales revenue of 700 million yuan production base.

In the pulp moulded plastic industrial packaging segment, Dongguan Huilin is an early involvement in environmental protection pulp moulding production enterprises in China, with a total investment of 430 million yuan. It is a large enterprise integrating pulp moulding machinery and equipment manufacturing, product development and design, mould manufacturing, product production and sales.

In 2020, Dongguan Huilin invested RMB610 million again to build a biodegradable biomaterial production project, mainly engaged in the research, development and production of biodegradable bio-based packaging materials and products. Yutong Technology has been actively laying out the pulp moulding market since 2016, and has established pulp moulding production bases in many places across the country, including Yibin project in Sichuan with an investment of about 750 million yuan, which can achieve an output value of 1.2 billion yuan upon completion and production; Haikou project in Hainan with an investment of 400 million yuan, which can achieve an annual output value of about 6.4 billion yuan upon completion and production, and the company’s entire environmental protection products can now achieve more than 2 billion when all production is completed. As a century-old enterprise in the tobacco and wine packaging industry, Yongfa Printing started its pulp moulding business in 2014 and has built projects such as Yongfa (Shanghai) Moulding, Yongfa (Henan) Moulding, Yongfa (Jiangsu) Moulding and Qingdao Yongfa Moulding, which mainly provide supporting services for international brand mobile phones, and its products are all over the world. Kailong Group has invested 300 million yuan in the construction of pulp moulding projects since 2017, building modern pulp moulding production bases in Fengxian (Shanghai), Kunshan (Jiangsu), Jiangyan, Hefei (Anhui) and Yongchuan (Chongqing) respectively. Foxconn, a large electronics industry technology manufacturing service company, invested 230 million yuan to establish the Foxconn Lankao Science and Technology Park in Henan Province to expand the research and development and manufacturing business of pulp moulded plastic environmental protection packaging materials.

Foreign pulp moulding giants are also paying attention to China’s flaming pulp moulding market. At the end of 2019, Denmark’s THORNCO Group, the world’s largest manufacturer of moulded fibre packaging products and moulded packaging machinery and equipment, invested about 120 million yuan to build Chuzhou Senvo Paper Packaging Co Ltd, with a planned annual output of 200 million pieces of moulded egg packaging products and a commitment to an environmentally friendly and sustainable business model.