Plastic Degradation Technology: A Green Hope for Relieving the Earth's Burden
The plastic degradation technologies as a solution to severe plastic pollution. It highlights applications across agriculture, with degradable films from Kingfa and Kaishun aiding sustainable farming; packaging, via "living plastic" and photoDegradable Bags curbing "white pollution"; and environmental protection, using microwave and catalytic pyrolysis for high-value waste plastic recycling. Industrial breakthroughs like low-energy polysulfone degradation are covered too. Diverse technologies—photocatalytic, bio-enzyme, thermal catalytic—are analyzed.
1. Agricultural Change: The Green Revolution of Degradable Agricultural Films
In agricultural production, although traditional polyethylene agricultural films can keep warm and moisturize and promote crop growth, they are difficult to degrade and remain in large quantities in the soil, destroying the soil structure, hindering the transmission of water and nutrients, and affecting the development of crop roots. Nowadays, degradable agricultural films have brought new hope. For example, Kingfa Science & Technology's PBAT agricultural film, through unique molecular regulation technology, can automatically degrade into water and carbon dioxide after crop harvest. It has been promoted and applied in many places, covering various crops, effectively solving the problem of residual agricultural films. In addition, Kaishun New Materials' fully biodegradable agricultural films made from corn flour and sugarcane flour not only have excellent performance but also can be completely degraded in a short time under composting conditions without manual recycling, saving costs while helping to increase production. The use of these degradable agricultural films has laid the foundation for sustainable agricultural development and allowed the land to "rest and recuperate".
2. Packaging Innovation: Saying Goodbye to "White Pollution"
The packaging industry is a "major user" of plastic. In the past, a large number of non-degradable Plastic Bags and packaging materials caused serious "white pollution". The "living plastic" technology of the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is eye-catching. By modifying Bacillus subtilis, spores containing degradation enzyme gene circuits are mixed with plastic masterbatches. There is no difference in daily use, and they can be quickly degraded in the soil after being discarded, greatly shortening the degradation cycle. Photodegradable garbage bags are also widely used in outdoor scenes, decomposing within a few months under ultraviolet radiation, reducing the pressure of garbage disposal. The application of these technologies has gradually transformed packaging from a pollution source into a recyclable resource, striding towards green environmental protection.
3. Environmental Protection Breakthrough: New Paths for Waste Plastic Recycling
Facing massive amounts of waste plastics, traditional landfill, incineration, and mechanical recycling methods have obvious drawbacks. The environmental protection field is actively exploring new recycling paths. The Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has successfully used microwave technology to efficiently decompose and convert mixed waste plastics in landfills into high-value chemical raw materials and fuels, improving resource utilization while reducing pollution. Southeast University used multi-layer stainless steel catalysts to catalytically pyrolyze waste plastics into multi-walled carbon nanotubes and hydrogen, realizing the high-value recycling of waste plastics. These technologies have injected new vitality into the environmental protection industry, turning waste plastics into "treasures" and creating economic value while solving pollution problems.
4. Industrial Exploration: Overcoming the Difficulties of Engineering Plastic Degradation
Engineering plastics are widely used in the industrial field, but due to their stable chemical structure, degradation and recycling have always been difficult. The research team of East China Normal University proposed a visible light/abundant copper catalysis strategy, realizing low-energy degradation and recycling of polysulfone plastics under normal temperature and pressure with a recovery rate of over 90%, providing an effective solution for the recycling of waste electronic equipment casings and the like. In industrial production, reducing energy consumption and improving efficiency are crucial. This technological breakthrough has opened up a new path for the recycling of engineering plastics and is conducive to promoting industrial green transformation.
5. Diverse Technologies: Opening a New Era of Plastic Degradation
The application and development of plastic degradation technology in various fields have brought hope for solving the problem of plastic pollution. From agriculture to industry, from packaging to environmental protection, every technological breakthrough is reducing the burden on the earth. However, the governance of plastic pollution has a long way to go. It is necessary to continue to invest in research and development, strengthen the promotion and application of technologies, and improve public environmental awareness. It is believed that with the efforts of all parties, plastic degradation technology will continue to improve, creating a cleaner and more sustainable future for mankind and freeing the earth from the "plastic dilemma".