Coffee isn't an unfamiliar drink for everyone. In recent years, the coffee industry has increased fast. According to global coffee consumption data, the coffee consumption was 10.16 million tons, an increase of 0.7%. As people's living standards improved and deeply knowing about the coffee culture, the consumption of coffee in China also shows an increasing trend. According to statistics, China's coffee consumption was growing at an average annual rate of 15%, which is much higher than the global growth speed of 2%. Moreover, the coffee market will reach a scale of 1000 billion in 2025. With the rapid growth of the global coffee market, the use of coffee cups is also increasing. According to the report of the British Parliament, about 2.5 billion paper cups were abandoned per year only in Britain. As the coffee culture becomes more and more popular, the need for disposable coffee cups is increasing; there will be 5 billion paper cups abandoned per year within 7 years. As a result, environmental pollution will become more serious gradually. BMG did a survey that interviewed 1500 people and concluded that over half of the interviewers support the coffee cup tax. In addition, the Ireland environment minister announced in 2019 that Ireland would collect tax from consumers who use disposable paper cups to promote the paper cups' recycling and reuse, and to reduce the resources wastes. Why does the European environmental protection administration promulgate such strict policies on disposable coffee cups? The reason is that this kind of cup is difficult to recycle. People often abandon disposable cups everywhere, which is not easy for centralized processing. Besides, the disposable cup is not totally made of paper, but has a layer of film on its surface to resist water, which is made with plastic and polyethylene. If we want to recycle this kind of cup, we should initially separate the paper and film. However, only two companies have the technology in England, and can only dispose of 500 million cups per year, and no solution for the rest 2 billion cups. Some coffee leaders take many eco-friendly measures to reduce forest waste to respond to the government, such as encouraging customers to bring cups by themselves or recycle those cups they used, which gained some results. However, according to a report, although 4/5 of consumers are willing to abandon the cups to the recycling box, less than 0.25% of cups were recycled. The reason is, as mentioned before, this kind of cup is difficult to recycle. The only thing they did was the collection. As a consequence, the ultimate solution to this problem is to change the material of paper cups. In recent years, many pulp molded companies have begun developing biodegradable coffee cups to reduce the environmental pollution caused by disposable cups, made of bagasse, bamboo, and PLA, etc. This kind of product can be 100% biodegraded only under natural conditions. As a leading sustainable packaging company, YUTOECO...

Pack Expo International will be held at McCormick Place in Chicago, USA, from October 23 to 26, 2022. As a corporate brand of YUTO that focuses on environmentally friendly packaging and sustainable development, YUTOECO is committed to creating green life for everyone and will bring diversified sustainable packaging solutions to participate in this exhibition. (Booth No.: 27024  Hall: West Building) Pack Expo International is the largest and most authoritative packaging expo in North America. Since its establishment in 1995, it has developed into the largest packaging exhibition in North America, which is a highly influential professional exhibition in the global packaging industry. During this expo, YUTOECO will display a variety of eco-friendly packaging solutions for different applications, including catering packaging, consumer electronics packaging, skincare & healthcare packaging, food packaging, etc. With various and innovative surface processes, unique forming processes and packaging structure designs, it enables brands' packaging to be unique on the sustainability side. Eco-friendly surface processes, unique box designs, diversified lamination solutions, etc. Come and you will be inspired! Green Life for Everyone! YUTOECO team looks forward to exploring the packaging innovation road with you! Be there or be square!

Sustainability has become a hot topic in current society. It also has an important influence on the packaging industry. Nowadays, green packaging has been widely used in various industries. People not only focus on the profits the packaging brings them, but also care about the sustainable development of balancing the economy and environment. No matter from which aspect of packaging, commercial or environmental protection, sustainable packaging will be a good choice. What is sustainable packaging? This concept has evolved from ecologically sustainable development. Sustainable packaging refers that it needs to obey the rules of the sustainability of energy and substance during the packaging process, which needs to ensure the raw material is renewable, the energy consumption of production is low, low environmental pollution and recyclable. In many developed European countries, more and more people have realized the serious problem that packaging brings to the environment, and have taken many positive measures. For example, Germany introduced Packaging Regulations; Belgium promulgated National Ecology Law; EN requires the packaging recycling rate to reach 85%, etc. According to statistics, during the use of a product, the environmental cost has a portion of 80% depending on the packaging. To solve the environmental problem caused by packaging, sustainable packaging has become a good choice. In principle, sustainable packaging needs to meet the profits of the environment, function and economy at the same time. Besides considering packaging structure, market effect, shelf effect, and consumer acceptance, we also need to forecast the environmental influence during the production and use of eco-friendly packaging, as well as the recycling problem of waste packaging. First, the packaging materials of sustainable packaging must be safe for humans, animals and the environment. This requirement is not only while using the packaging, but also embodies the whole circular chain of packaging production, use, and recycling. In addition, sustainable packaging must be low energy consumption. During the production process, we need to reduce the use of packaging materials, energy consumption, and rationally use the transportation and storage space, shorten the degradation time of waste packaging materials. What's more, sustainable packaging also should coincide with circular development. In the fierce market competition, rationally using renewable materials (renewable paper, renewable pulping, etc.) can reduce power consumption and costs and realize the circular development of packaging. With the development of technology, Actually, we can see sustainable packaging everywhere. For example, in 2006, Americans used corn as the raw material to produce drink bottles, socks, etc. These kinds of products are made from plant fiber materials, which are easily recycled and biodegraded. To a certain extent, the packaging produced in pursuit of maximizing commercial interests h...

With the implementation of the “Plastic Ban”, finding alternatives to plastic packaging and plastic straws has become a hot point. The disposable plastic straws disappeared from the national beverage chains. Instead, the use of bioplastic and pulp molded products began to increase. Food containers for fast foods, consumer electronics, cosmetics, etc., play important roles in environmental protection. On the aspect of market scale, according to the data by Global market insights Inc., the global scale of the pulp molded market is 3.4 billion in 2019. And Asia-Pacific is the largest area for the global pulp molded packaging industry with a market share of about 40%. In January 2020, China thoroughly limited the use of non-biodegradable plastic. Some famous chain stores, such as Starbucks, Macdonald’s and HEYTEA, gradually reduced the use of plastic straws, and used paper straws or direct drinking lids to replace them. As an alternative to food packaging, the applications of pulp molded products are highly approved by the market. With the implementation of the detailed requirements of the plastic ban and increasing human environmental protection awareness, paper will become an economical and eco-friendly material to use for packaging. In the future, replacing plastic with paper will become a trend in the packaging industry. Although the market scale of the pulp molding industry is small now in China, it has large development potential. With the implementation of the plastic ban, the permeability of molded pulp will reach 30% in the plastic packaging market in 2025, and the capacity of the pulp molding market will reach 238.8 billion. Whether it is bioplastic or pulp molded packaging, it is important for high performance and safety. For consumers, the safety of food packaging is a key problem they will consider. Nowadays, many pulp molding companies have begun to focus on technology development and product safety, and set up strategic cooperation with clients to promote these kinds of eco-friendly alternatives, such as PFAS-free pulp molded food containers. On the whole, the pulp molding industry is still developing at a rapid rate in China and with large market potential.

With the rapid development of technology, there are many new materials that can replace traditional PE plastic, such as PLA, PHAs, PBS, etc. In the past several decades, eco-friendly plastic packaging has been widely used as shopping bags, freshness protection packaging, trays of electronic products and so on. However, in recent years, the new packaging has appeared: pulp molded packaging. With the improvement of environmental awareness of humans and the establishment of carbon targets, plastic reduction and forbidding have become a clear trend of the future, and the pulp molded packaging made from bagasse and bamboo has begun to increase explosively. As products of the current environmental trend, choosing bioplastic packaging or pulp molded packaging has become a problem. For biodegradable performance, both kinds of products are biodegradable, while the biodegradable conditions are different. Bioplastic is essentially a polymer, which is difficult to be biodegraded. This kind of packaging often needs to be recycled first and needs industrial compost under a specific condition. If we throw the bioplastic packaging in the sea or soil directly, it will be difficult to be biodegraded. Compared with bioplastic packaging, pulp molded packaging can be biodegraded into water and carbon-oxygen within 90 days after use, without providing a specific condition, which is eco-friendly for both customers and the environment. From the hardness of packaging, bioplastic packaging features high strength and tensile, which is not easy to bend. Most of the biodegradable cutleries in the market are made from PLA due to their high strength and biodegradable performance, and this kind of packaging has become popular in the catering industry. However, many eco-packaging companies also took action to develop high-strength pulp molded tableware. As the industry-leading sustainable packaging solution provider, YUTOECO has developed a series of pulp molded cutleries with high-strength features, which can easily cut fruits, cakes, etc. This kind of product has the same strength as plastic cutleries, which also can be biodegraded under natural conditions. In the catering industry, waterproof and oilproof performance is also a factor that merchants will consider for catering packaging. To solve the problem, pulp molded packaging companies always add some food-grade waterproof and oil-proofing agents. In addition, there are also other additives to realize the feature of resisting low or high temperatures. Usually, the pulp molded packaging can resist a temperature of -20~200℃, which allows consumers to heat food in a microwave or oven. Although bioplastic packaging is also waterproof and oilproof, this kind of packaging cannot resist high temperatures. Nowadays, many industry-leading retail companies have begun to use biodegradable tableware. For example, Starbucks and Luckin Coffee used PLA coffee cups for their cold drinks. As a transitional packaging product, bioplastic pac...

We may often see two words in our daily life – “Biodegradable” and “Compostable”. These two words are always used by mistake, which causes uncertainty for people who want sustainable shopping. To better create a better life for everyone, the most important thing is to understand the definition of biodegradation and compost, and the difference between them. Biodegradation means that everything can be decomposed and absorbed by microorganisms, which is a spontaneous process. When an object begins to be degraded, it will be degraded into simple components, such as carbon dioxide and water. This process can take place with or without oxygen. But if under the condition of oxygen, the biodegradable process will be shorter. It will take from several days to 500 years or even longer for biodegradation. However, the biodegradable time depends on the components and storage method, as well as temperature, water, light, and oxygen. Most waste landfill sites lack sunlight, air and moisture, which causes a slow biodegradable process. Normally, vegetable peels, eggshells, paper and garden wastes can be biodegraded under natural conditions in a short time. However, plastic and aluminum foil are always regarded as non-biodegradable products because they will take a long time to biodegrade. In other words, most of the “biodegradable products” will actually not be biodegraded under natural conditions. Compostable means that a product is capable of breaking down into natural elements in a compost environment. Because it’s broken down into its natural elements, it causes no harm to the environment. Different products may use different materials, which will cause different compost difficulties. So for compostable products, there are two kinds of types, home compost and industrial compost. Home compost means throwing wastes into waste bins or landfills in someone’s backyard, which can be implemented at home. Due to the limited temperature, some products cannot be decomposed under home conditions. Industrial compost always creates the best conditions, such as temperature, humidity, oxygen and so on. This method can decompose some complex products that home compost cannot decompose. Both two composting methods will produce abundant fertilizer after the end of the process. After knowing the definition of biodegradation and compost, you may still be confused. Although all compostable materials are biodegradable, not all biodegradable materials are compostable. Biodegradation will leave metal substances, while compost only produces biomass, carbon dioxide and water, which is totally eco-friendly to our environment. Therefore, if you want to reduce the impact on the environment, choosing compostable products will be a better choice. YUTOECO is committed to providing sustainable packaging products made from plant fiber and can be 100% biodegraded and composted under natural conditions.

As people's environmentally friendly awareness improves gradually, people begin to be aware of the problems that plastic pollution brings to the environment. In recent years, pulp molded tableware gradually appeared in people's view. This kind of product is made from plant fiber, such as bamboo and bagasse, which can be biodegraded in natural conditions within 90 days without causing pollution to the environment. However, plastic tableware has appeared for decades. Due to its stable structure and excellent tolerance, plastic tableware has become more and more popular nowadays. Compared with traditional plastic tableware, pulp molded tableware is just the beginning. There are so many technical problems that should be solved to make pulp molded tableware replace plastic tableware. 1. Waterproof & oilproof As we all know, paper is a common product in our daily lives, easily leaking and cannot contain water directly. The same goes for pulp molded containers! If we contain water or oil in a pulp molded container without any treatments, the liquid in the container will quickly seep out. For this problem, different companies adopt various measures to solve this problem. One is attaching a plastic film inside the container to realize water and oilproof. The paper cups in the market now are using this solution. While this solution also has plastic. It won't be easy to recycle this kind of product. With the continual development of technology, many companies have begun to explore full biodegradable pulp molded meal boxes. By adding food-grade biodegradable water and oilproof agents to make pulp molded containers realize water and oilproof. 2. High & low temperature resistant Besides water and oil proof, we also need to solve the problem of high & low temperature resistance. When it contains deli, food always has a high temperature. If the meal boxes cannot resist high temperatures, when it contacts with hot food, the quality of the food container will be changed, further affecting the food. For some special applications, such as aviation, we always put it in a microwave or oven for heating, which requires our pulp molded containers to resist an ultra-high temperature over 200℃. Most pulp molded containers in the market with the publicity of high-temperature resistance will become yellow when putting them in ultra-high temperature conditions. We also have a freeze requirement for food, which requires pulp molded containers to be used in low-temperature conditions. 3. PFAS-free We have mentioned above that the pulp molded containers must be oilproof. While do you know that almost all oilproof agents have PFAS, which are harmful to people? Therefore, using PFAS-free oilproof agents is an urgent problem that needs to be solved. As an industry-leading sustainable packaging solution provider, YUTOECO developed a food-grade PFAS-free oilproof formulation in advance, which is eco-friendly and can provide a safer meal experience for customers. 4. High-s...

1. What are the raw materials of disposable biodegradable meal boxes? And what’s the proportion of each material? The common pulp molded meal boxes are made from 70-90% of bagasse and 10-30% of bamboo pulp. Different tableware should adjust the proportion of each material according to the different needs of shape, angle, hardness, or toughness. This kind of product is totally made from plant fiber without adding PP, PET, etc. 2. How do pulp molded containers realize waterproof and oilproof? For pulp molded products, they will always add some food-grade additives to realize waterproof and oil proof, such as 1-2.5% of waterproofing agent and 0.5-0.8% of oil proofing agent. This kind of product can always effectively prevent water and oil from leaking over 30mins. For some special requirements, there are also special solutions to increase the temperature and time. 3. Does biodegradable tableware have PFAS? Most of the oil-proofing agents in the plant fiber tableware on the market have PFAS, while waterproof but no oilproof tableware doesn’t have PFAS. If you want tableware waterproof and oilproof without PFAS, the best alternative solution is filming. PBAT is one of the most popular films in pulp molded tableware. This kind of film can be biodegraded. Products with films can better maintain the temperature, and reduce the stickiness between rice and container, which can, to a large extent, reduce the use of water and oil proofing agents. 4. How long will a pulp molded tableware be totally biodegraded? Under the condition without any industrial measures, it usually takes 45-90 days for pulp molded tableware to be totally biodegraded under natural conditions without releasing harmful substances, which will not cause damage to terrestrial biotas and marine organisms. 5. Can pulp molded containers be used in the microwave and refrigerator? What’s the temperature range? Pulp molded containers are microwave and refrigerator safe, which can resist a temperature of up to 200℃, and frozen to -20℃. 6. What standards should pulp molded containers meet? Pulp molded containers should meet the standard of China Pulp Molded Tableware quality control standards, FDA, LFGB, and any other international standardized inspection standards. 7. Are the raw materials of white biodegradable food containers bleached? What bleach to use? Unbleached plant fiber pulp is yellow due to a small amount of lignin and colored impurities, and the fiber is more solid than bleached one; the semi-bleached pulp molded product is pale yellow because it has lots of pentosane; these kinds of colors are usually called “Natural Color”. The bleached pulp product is white and soft, while the fiber strength is lower than the unbleached one. Normally, we often use hydrogen peroxide to bleach.

Pulp molded packaging and cutlery have a wide market prospect in the global market, and even were regarded as the main method for dealing with “White Pollution” in western countries. Nowadays, America has announced that 8500 restaurants have stopped using PSP meal boxes, which reduced about 10 billion pieces. According to statistics, about 67.39 million people buy various trays and meal boxes during lunch, about 50 billion pieces per year. Furthermore, the fast-food industry and supermarkets consume over 100 billion trays per year in America; even their production capacity is only 20%, and the rest 75% of the trays need to be imported from other countries. Five states of the USA announced that they would use eco-friendly pulp molded food packaging to replace the traditional plastic packaging in 2010. This decision made the sales of the sustainable packaging market increase by 25 billion dollars. The consumption of trays can reach 60 billion in the fast-food industry and supermarkets in Japan; over 50% of the products need to be imported. Whatsmore, the trays consumption is over tens of billions of pieces per year in Korea, Taiwan, and other developed European countries. Southeast Asia would become the ideal area to export packaging. In June 2006, the EU passed a motion that the plastic packaging must be out of the catering market, and replaced with green, harmless pulp molded food packaging. East Asia, such as Japan and Korea, has gradually abandoned plastic food packaging these years. Many industries still use plastic packaging in China, while pulp molded packaging products also get a good development opportunity in recent years. With various policies proclaimed by district governments, many companies began to respond to the policy and used pulp molded packaging instead of plastic packaging. The pulp molded packaging has five classes: catering packaging, external food packaging, skin & health care packaging, Tobacco & Wine & Tea packaging, and consumer electronics packaging. YUTOECO is an eco brand focusing on producing sustainable packaging products, which are biodegradable and compostable. In recent years, pulp molded packaging has developed so fast. We can see biodegradable packaging products, such as compostable bowls, cups, plates, etc. We believe that the pulp molded packaging will be around us soon.