Paper-for-Plastic Moves Toward Standardization: Green Paper Takeaway Packaging Group Standard Development Begins, with Chenming Paper and Other Mills Set to Benefit

Work has officially begun on the group standard General Requirements for Green Paper-based Takeaway Packaging, led by the China Technical Association of Paper Industry. The standard is designed for green paper-based takeaway packaging made from paper substrates and coated with biodegradable plastic film or water-based acrylic. It is divided into drinkware, tableware and packaging bags, covering items such as paper cups, paper bowls, paper meal boxes, molded pulp, paper straws and paper carry bags. As an extension of China's plastic restriction order, the standard is set to strengthen the position of packaging paper and make the paper-for-plastic transition more standardized, with large papermakers including Chenming Paper expected to benefit.

As plastic restrictions continue to tighten, paper packaging is gaining ground in everyday applications once dominated by plastic, thanks to its eco-friendly, lightweight and readily available nature. The rapid expansion of food delivery and e-commerce has further enlarged the market for single-use packaging.

Publicly available statistics show that China's single-use meal box consumption rose from roughly 19.8 billion units in 2017 to about 40 billion in 2019, and further to around 45 billion in 2020, maintaining an overall upward trend.

Paper, as a relatively mature substitute for plastic, is attracting growing market interest and opening new growth space for paper manufacturers. Over the past year, tight supply of high-grade packaging papers such as white card and food card has offered further evidence of this trend.

Data from Sublime China Information indicates that from January 2020 to March 2021, white card prices at mainstream producers generally trended upward with volatility. Although prices have fluctuated slightly recently, some securities firms consider the earlier rapid rise followed by short-term fluctuation and consolidation to be normal. A wider global COVID-19 vaccination rollout, some easing of the overseas pandemic, major countries' PPI data generally rising month by month, and clearer signs of economic recovery are all expected to support the paper industry, keeping white card worth watching.

At the same time, an improving industry structure is further tilting advantages toward leading companies with supply chain strength. For top papermakers, matched self-made pulp capacity, stable supply from self-built pulp production bases and strong cost control are expected to widen profit margins.

——Reprinted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn); original article: http://news.pack.cn/show-377637.html