Domestic non-woven fabrics are almost all made of polypropylene and other man-made fibers. In other words, domestic non-woven fabrics are plastic bags. As a result, those myths that are degradable and recyclable can be broken by themselves.
Wen/Xie Bozhi
A year ago, when the plastic restriction order was issued, the voice of replacing plastic bags with "environmentally friendly and biodegradable" non-woven fabrics was heard all the time. However, a year later, 30% of domestic non-woven fabric factories closed down, and 60% of factories and warehouses were large quantities of unsalable high priced goods. The savior of eradicating white garbage has become a "garbage bag" that no one cares about.
Non woven fabric is not cloth
The plastic spraying machine spits out a pool of "cloth" that can not see the warp and weft lines. Most of the cloth is white, and some of it is black. After being extruded and shaped, it is cut according to the specifications of 1 meter 1 or 1 meter 6. They are unprocessed non-woven bag embryo materials. The whole process is similar to spreading pancakes, except that the raw materials are not flour and eggs, but polypropylene, viscose and other man-made fibers, That is to say, it is the same material as the shell of some household appliances such as washing machines and televisions. It is also plastic.
The only difference is that most of the polypropylene particles used to produce non-woven fabrics are second-hand. A non-woven bag in the store may have been a laptop, monitor or the shell of a washing machine. In this life, it is made of various man-made fibers dominated by polypropylene. After melting, hot pressing and other steps, the plastic spray machine ejects a pool of plastic. The fibers are oriented or randomly distributed without combing. There is no cross mark of warp and weft yarns on them after weaving. Therefore, non-woven fabrics are more accurately called "non-woven fabrics".
"Spreading pancakes" is what Wenzhou Jichang Nonwovens Co., Ltd. is doing every day. Lin Guoxi, the head of the company, has been engaged in non-woven business for six years, and is well aware that the biggest weakness of "pancakes" is "weak". The plastic spraying machine, extruder and various rate measuring instruments strictly control the temperature, speed and thickness of artificial fiber forming. The thickness of non-woven fabrics is generally divided by grams, and the grams used as environmentally friendly shopping bags in the market are generally between 45g and 100g.
"Catalysts are indispensable. We have all kinds of catalysts, including aluminum, etc." to keep the molecular weight of polypropylene fiber as small as possible. The molecular weight is small and the performance is unstable. It will decompose when exposed to light and water. "Molecular weight is the key to the easy degradation of non-woven fabrics compared with plastic bags". The molecular weight of non-woven fabrics produced in Lin Guoxi's workshop is twice as small as that of ordinary plastic bags
Relatively degradable
"When the 'plastic restriction order' was just issued, the business was booming. Since then, more and more people have done it. Unexpectedly, the market demand has become smaller and smaller, and the company's profits have plummeted this year." Nonwovens factories in Guangdong and Zhejiang and Lin Guoxi's companies are facing the same dilemma. Dong Jinshi, the executive vice president and secretary-general of the International Food Packaging Association, predicted the foam of non-woven fabrics a year ago, "nothing can replace plastic bags, and the degradability of non-woven fabrics is relative to plastic bags."
Two or three hundred years and 90 days are the difference between the degradation life of plastic bags and non-woven fabrics. The difference of hundreds of years makes non-woven fabrics wear the hats of "degradable plastic bags" and "environmental protection". However, the non-woven fabric can be degraded by itself in 90 days outside, but it is not degraded to no trace, but becomes fragile fragments or powder like an egg roll. If placed indoors, the whole degradation process will take 9 years.
No matter for 9 years or 90 days, we need one condition - sunshine. If it is weak, it will not work. It must be strong. "We have done experiments, hanging the non-woven fabric under the sun, and it will be over in a summer." "Over" means that the non-woven fabric has completely degraded. If there is no sunlight and you stay indoors, it will take at least ten years or even decades for degradation. Don't forget that the degraded dust also contains colored ink, which makes the non-woven fabric colorful and becomes a toxic substance in the degraded dust. If inhaled by mistake, it is also harmful to human body.
Non woven fabric or troublesome cloth
Recyclable and easily degradable, non-woven fabrics were once commendable. But like degradation, the recyclability of non-woven fabrics also has conditions. Don't think the non-woven fabric is dirty, just throw it into the washing machine like the fabric. The non-woven fabric can't be washed by machine. After vigorous rubbing, it will be ruined twice and can only be washed by hand. But the treatment of cashmere and silk is obviously not available for non-woven fabrics. Most people who use non-woven fabrics discard them after they are stained with oil. Therefore, the recyclable use of non-woven fabrics is actually just a short promise to the environment. The properties of non-woven fabrics also include water permeability and air permeability. Due to these two characteristics, non-woven fabrics can contain limited items. At the same time, as polypropylene will release toxic substances in case of high temperature, cooked food can not directly contact non-woven fabric, and can only be put in the special food bag made of polyethylene. The load-bearing capacity and strength of non-woven fabrics are not as good as plastic bags. "If the plastic bags are made as thick as non-woven fabrics, the plastic bags are much stronger than non-woven fabrics", Dong Jinshi explained. There are few opportunities for non-woven fabrics to be recycled. Each family has an average of 10 unused non-woven bags. If these 10 non-woven bags need to be recycled, you should always pay attention to moisture and sunshine. With so many restrictions, the nickname of non-woven bag - environmental bag is not true. It is no wonder that 30% of non-woven fabric factories in China have closed down, and 60% of non-woven fabrics in factories and warehouses are unsalable.
Of course, the most important thing is the cost, which is an insurmountable barrier for non-woven fabrics. Businesses in traditional farmers' markets prefer plastic bags. Since they are all plastic, businesses will certainly not choose non-woven bags that are 10 times more expensive than plastic bags. In the final analysis, the cost problem is the real reason why the nonwoven industry, which was still a sunrise one year ago, has become a sunset.
