Kingfa signs framework agreement about promoting its biodegradable agricultural film

GUANGZHOU, China - Jan. 23, 2014 - PRLog -- On Dec. 5, 2013, Kingfa Sci & Tech Co., Ltd. (Kingfa) announced that it signed a framework agreement with the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), to promote over 467,000 ha. of its biodegradable agricultural film (using PBSA as biomaterial) in XPCC's crop ecological region within the next three years. Generally, 467,000 ha. of biodegradable agricultural film will consume approximately 20,000 tonnes of biodegradable plastic every year, according to CCM (http://www.cnchemicals.com/)’s Biomaterials China News (http://www.cnchemicals.com/Product/Newsletter/245/Glory-Biomaterial's-biological-PDO-program-put-into-operation-(Biomaterials-China-News-1401)/3375) issued in January.

The framework agreement is reached based on the developmental direction of both organisations. In short, as the spring ploughing   period   approaches, biodegradable agricultural film with good performance has become the first choice for cotton farmers of XPCC, since they have witnessed the good degradation of biodegradable agricultural film in their cotton fields and obtained a cost-recovering reduction last year. Specifically, approximately 3,300 ha. of biodegradable agricultural film was promoted by XPCC in 2012. Kingfa, a leading biodegradable plastic producer in China, is actively preparing for the domestic market for biodegradable agricultural film after the No.1 Proposal was released in March 2013 (the No. 1 Proposal for strengthening the development of green agriculture will set the direction of the Chinese government's major tasks this year).

Kingfa possesses a leading position in the development of China's biodegradable agricultural film industry. Firstly, the company's biodegradable agricultural film has a performance that is comparative with PE material. Moreover, its biodegradable agricultural film has proved to be completely biodegradable and has passed the EU-based EN13432 certification and the US-based BPI certification (ASTM D6400).

Kingfa has even drafted a national standard of the new material industry—the "biodegradable plastic used for blown film" (standard label: GB/T 29646-2013) has got the approval by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China and the Standardization Administration of the People's Republic of China in Sept. 2013. The national standard is scheduled to be implemented from Jan. 31, 2014.

According to an insider of Kingfa, the amount of biodegradable agricultural film will not compress the orders of existing packaging film. It may, however, increase the sales of its biodegradable plastic.

At present, the development of China's biodegradable agricultural film industry is mostly limited by the high price and disordered industrial standards.

On one hand, the price of biodegradable agricultural film is much higher than that of PE film, making it unaffordable for the majority of farmers.  According to related statistics, the price of traditional agricultural film is about USD2,445.8/t, while the price of biodegradable agricultural film will be over USD3,261.1/t (verified by Zhong Luhua, the chairman of Shenzhen Ecomann Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (Ecomann)).

On the other hand, China has no strict industrial standards for the degradable agricultural film industry, which can cause disorder in the industry. For example, many enterprises including Guangdong Shangjiu Biodegradable Plastic Co., Ltd. (Guangdong Shangjiu) produce their biodegradable film just by mixing PE with starch. Once the starch is decomposed, the PE residue can hide in the soil and still do harm to the environment.

Related preferential policies need to be published to encourage more enterprises to enter the biodegradable agricultural film industry and help ease the problem of white pollution in China.