Degradable materials help "plastic-free" Winter Olympics
On January 21, 15 days before the opening of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, on the production line of Anhui Fengyuan Biotechnology Co., Ltd., employees are in full swing producing biodegradable tableware for the Beijing Winter Olympics. By the eve of the opening, Fengyuan Bio will produce a total of 30 million pieces (sets) of degradable tableware for the Beijing Winter Olympics.
All use of degradable tableware has become a microcosm of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee to create a "plastic-free" Winter Olympics. On December 24, 2020, the "Beijing Plastic Pollution Control Action Plan (2020-2025)" was officially released, and the Beijing Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics will fully implement the Olympic concept of "green, shared, open, and clean" , Strictly implement relevant national requirements in the competition venues, non-competition venues, contracted hotels, service venues/streamlines and related business areas and competitions managed by the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee, and reduce the use of non-degradable disposable plastic products as much as possible, Accelerate the application of new concepts, new technologies and new products in the Beijing Winter Olympics.
The Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee attaches great importance to the low-carbon management of the Winter Olympics and the Winter Paralympics, and actively introduces high-quality biodegradable materials as an effective means of low-carbon environmental protection for the Beijing Winter Olympics. On November 9, 2020, the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee signed a contract with Fengyuan Biotechnology as the official biodegradable tableware supplier for the Beijing Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics. Fengyuan Bio provides biodegradable tableware and related support services for the Beijing Winter Olympics, including disposable tableware and injection-molded tableware, such as disposable knives, forks, spoons, lunch boxes, and 29 types of injection-molded trays, chopsticks, straws, etc. product.
This biodegradable tableware is produced using biodegradable material - polylactic acid as raw material. Polylactic acid is a representative of bio-based new materials that can be completely biodegraded. It is currently a relatively cost-effective biodegradable and environmentally friendly polymer material. Compared with traditional petroleum-based materials, each ton of polylactic acid can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 3 tons. This is because polylactic acid has good biodegradability, and is completely degraded by microorganisms to eventually generate carbon dioxide and water. Compared with ordinary plastics that are incinerated, which cause a large amount of greenhouse gases to be discharged into the air, the carbon emission of polylactic acid from raw materials to polymer production is about 1/3 of that of general-purpose plastic polyethylene.
