Fluorine-free paper packaging will become a new outlet for catering packaging

Paper packaging, pulp molding, paper mulch and other products produced with fluorine-free water and oil repellent are the first choice for export to Europe, the United States and Japan.

With the rapid development of the economy and the enhancement of environmental protection awareness, my country's plastic ban will be fully implemented in January 2021, and the European Commission's guidelines for disposable plastic products, the upcoming revision of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive will be more inclined to include pulp molding Paper packaging of plant fiber substrates including product packaging, paper packaging has become the largest packaging material used in catering, food packaging and other fields.

1.China's Requirements for Fluorinated Additives

Compared with the old version of the national standard GB 9685-2008, the new national standard GB 9685-2016 "Standards for the Use of Additives for Food Contact Materials and Products" deletes diethanolamine mono(1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluoroalkyl) phosphate and bis(1H , 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluoroalkyl) phosphate, perfluoroalkyl acrylate copolymer (perfluoroalkyl acrylate copolymer) 2 kinds of perfluorinated compounds.

The current toxicological data on C6-PFCs is still limited, and studies have shown that they do not have the same bioaccumulation and potential systemic and developmental toxicity as C8 substances. Animal and epidemiological studies have shown that C6-PFCs do not accumulate in organisms due to their rapid excretion. Therefore, the use of short-chain C6-PFCs in food contact materials is still allowed in China.

According to the provisions of my country's "GB 9685-2016 Standards for the Use of Additives for Food Contact Materials and Products", "GB 4806.6-2016 Plastic Resins for Food Contact", "GB 4806.10-2016 Paints and Coatings for Food Contact" and other standards, some Fluorine-containing small molecules or polymers can be used in food contact materials and products under certain restrictions. For example, tetrafluoroethylene polymers or copolymers of tetrafluoroethylene and other fluorine-containing monomers (hexafluoropropylene, perfluoro-n-propyl vinyl ether, etc.) can be used in plastic products or coatings, but they must meet the requirements of tetrafluoroethylene , hexafluoropropylene or perfluoro-n-propyl vinyl ether and other fluorine-containing compounds with their respective migration limits (0.05 mg/kg, 0.01 mg/kg and 0.05 mg/kg respectively). Difluorochloromethane, 2,2-ethylenebis(4,6-di-tert-butylphenyl)phosphazene fluoride, bis[ethyl(perfluorooctane)sulfonamidoethyl]ammonium phosphate, etc. Fluorochemicals can be used as additives in food contact plastic or paper products.

2.Fluorine-free water and oil repellent

In January 2015, the U.S. FDA announced that food contact substances (FCSs) containing monoethanolamine and diethanolamine, valeric anhydride, and perfluoroalkyl-substituted phosphatidic acid were banned from being used as water and oil repellents for paper and board for contact with Water and oil food. In January 2021, the US FDA announced that manufacturers are required to voluntarily phase out the use of food contact packaging materials containing PFAS/PFOA within three years, and it will be enforced from January 2024. As of July 2022, 26 states in the United States have introduced legislation restricting the use of PFAS/PFOA, and 11 states have implemented it.

Restrictions on PFAS are being gradually expanded within the EU. In Denmark, the ban on the use of paper and paperboard-based food contact materials containing PFASs came into full force in July 2020. The Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Denmark and Sweden intend to propose amendments to REACH regulations to comprehensively restrict the manufacture and use of PFAS/PFOA.

Fluorine-free water and oil repellent has become a research hotspot in the industry. It is safer and more environmentally friendly. Paper packaging, pulp molding, and paper mulch products produced with it are the first choice for export to Europe, the United States and Japan. Although surface treatments such as coating and spraying and dipping on the product surface can achieve the same waterproof and oil-proof performance as fluorine-containing products, their high equipment investment and processing costs are destined to be unable to be used on a large scale.

The advantage of the fluorine-free waterproof and oil-repellent solution added in the slurry is that no equipment investment is required and the cost is controllable. The disadvantage is that the oil-repellent performance cannot reach the effect of fluorine-based products. However, the industry also has different opinions on the oil-repellent effect testing of fluorine-free additives. For example, the previous test standard for the impermeability of pulp molded products at 95°C for 30 minutes was considered by the industry and the end consumer market to be far beyond the actual use scenario.

At present, the European and American markets are more rational in accepting the physical test results, or choose a certain temperature (30°C, 40°C, 70°C) thermal oil impermeability test standard for 30 minutes according to the end use scenario and customer needs. After all, a solution that can be widely accepted by the market must be a feasible and cost-controllable solution on the production side.