A set of environmentally-friendly lunch boxes is 5 cents more expensive than disposable foam tableware. Who will pay for environmental protection? Consumers and companies are weighing green tableware, use or not? On January 22, 1999, the State Economic and Trade Commission issued the No. 6 Order, requesting that the production, sale, and use of disposable foaming utensils should be completely eliminated by December 31, 2000, and shall be implemented from January 1, 2001, and The basic requirements of the proposed replacement product are that it is easy to recycle and degradable. The issuance of the sixth order was equivalent to the death penalty imposed on many manufacturers of disposable foam plastics. According to reports, at present, domestic consumption of polystyrene foam (PS) is about 12 million tons per year, with a production capacity of more than 12 billion and a volume of 2 million cubic meters. â– 30% difference between new and old tableware costs Dong Jinshi, deputy chairman of the China Packaging Resources Comprehensive Utilization Committee, introduced a small-scale production line for the production of disposable foam plastic tableware of approximately 3 million yuan, and an annual output of 80 million plastic lunch boxes; The light-biodegradable polypropylene tableware production line is about 800,000 yuan, and the annual production volume is between 4000 and 50 million. It seems that the new environmental protection material equipment is lower than the PS foam tableware. However, from the material point of view, environmental protection tableware does not take any advantage. A foamed plastic lunch box requires only 5 grams of material, while light-biodegradable polypropylene tableware requires 15 grams of material. At present, the raw material price on the market is foam material (polystyrene) 9,000 yuan/ton; non-foam material 6500 yuan/ton. Taken together, the cost per material consumed for photo-biodegradable polypropylene environmental protection tableware is more than twice that of foamed plastic tableware (2.17 times). Of course, product costs are not simply summed up. All kinds of products from the final factory to the hands of consumers, the middle doping management, labor, advertising costs and other factors. If we only consider the cost of equipment and raw materials, the new and old tableware cost gap is about 30% higher than the old one. In addition, the foamed tableware developed from 1986 to the present, has already formed a certain scale of production, the price has been relatively low, so this ratio may be higher than 30%. â– 5 cents, blocking the profit margin of the fast food industry The fast food industry is arguably the largest "consumer" of disposable lunch boxes. Disposable lunch boxes are an important cost component of the fast food industry. A fast-food boss said that the cost of lunch boxes has increased by 30%, which is actually a bit too high for the fast food industry where the profit margin is not very large. The two fast food companies the reporter came into contact with were: “Timely snacks for rain†which sent around 3,000 meals a day. The cost of tableware increased by more than 4 cents. The cost of another Lihua Fast Food increased by 4 to 6 hair, and Lihua sent 20,000 meals a day. After disabling foaming plastics, which alternative products are used, whether the increased costs will ultimately be borne by consumers will be a scratching issue for each fast food company. Ms. Xu said that the prompt rain snack has been replaced with environmentally friendly tableware since the beginning of the year. The new tableware is designated by the Chaoyang District Health and Anti-epidemic Station. The original set of cutlery (including food boxes, lunch boxes, soup bowls) cost 5 cents, environmental protection tableware set of 9 hairs, and the cost has nearly doubled. Speaking of the timely operation of the rain, Ms. Xu said with frustration that with a plastic foam lunch box, each set of 10 yuan box lunches would have a profit of almost 5 cents, and the 6 yuan package would only have a profit of 12 cents. The cost of using environmentally friendly cutlery is almost 5 cents, and the profit space is equal to none. In the current state of operation, it is only to keep customers, and wait for the May 1st vegetable prices to come down. For the ban, Ms. Xu also said at the same time that she understood: "After all, environmental protection is everyone's business. "Lihua Fast Food," said Zhang Jiuli, general manager of Lihua said that 80% of Lihua still uses foam plastic lunch boxes, and 20% of environmentally friendly lunch boxes are used at the request of users. This 20% of users are mainly senior office buildings and The hospital’s Lihua had fully rolled out the environmental protection tableware for a while in November last year, because the insulation, pressure resistance, and leakproofness are not as good as those of the foamed lunch box, and the customers are not easily accepted. The cost of the kit is 0.8 yuan, and the environmental protection tableware of polypropylene is 1.2 yuan to 1.4 yuan each. Lihua's current operating situation is to use the profit of foamed tableware to fill up the loss of the new tableware. Zhang Jiuli hopes that the production of environmentally friendly lunch boxes As soon as the scale was formed, the purchase cost was lowered, due to the increased cost of tableware replacement, “Timely Rain†once considered allowing consumers to take part, because users did not accept the final abandonment, apparently in the current market situation of foamed plastic tableware and environmentally friendly tableware coexistence. The question of who will bear the increased costs is a very complicated issue. The result of a unilateral fare increase is likely to be the loss of some customers because of market competition. "You do not do since there will be someone else to do" â– increase of 5 cents, most consumers said they still do not want to use environmentally friendly People's Daily recently conducted an online survey content is:. "Environmental important to you do? Of the 1151 responses submitted, 1113 thought that environmental protection was very important, 22 people thought it was not important, and 16 people did not think it was easy to say. Although as many as 97% of people expressed concern for environmental protection, once the economic problems are involved, it seems that It became a bit different again. The reporter said "If you set up an environmentally friendly tableware 5 cents more expensive than a foaming tableware, which one would you choose?" Randomly surveyed 10 people. Out of 10 people, 6 people answered In foamed plastic, four other people chose environmentally-friendly cutlery, and one of the college students said after hesitated for a long time: "I chose to foam because saving 5 cents each time is very important to me. The premise of this selection is that the foamed tableware does not contain dioxins. The long-term use or improper use of the products is harmful to the body. Users of instant rain food companies are obviously reluctant to accept the increase of 5 cents per day; Lihua’s general manager Zhang Jiuhua said that it is only for customers. The use of environmentally-friendly cutlery is not considered for the time being to allow customers to bear this part of the cost, and the customer’s initiative to use environmentally-friendly cutlery is composed of high-end office buildings and hospitals. For high-end office customers, 5 cents is probably negligible. However, in the hospital, the health of the customers is more important than anything.It seems that both the businessmen and the consumers need to make trade-offs and find a balance between the economy and health and between environmental protection and interests. Yes, the college student added that she would rather choose another option: there is only one kind of environmental protection tableware, the price is very expensive, let her choose whether to use it or not. And for environmentalists, the price increase does not seem to be a problem Dong Jinshi, a master of environmental chemistry at the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said raising the price of disposable tableware is not a bad thing. If you are taller, consumers can't accept it, well, you can not use it.Either from the point of view of environmental protection or conservation of resources, using less or even not using disposable utensils is a good thing. Disposable tableware is not only unfavorable for environmental protection, but also The biggest waste of resources.â– The 7 billion market gap, who will fill the statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics shows that the country consumes disposable lunch boxes every year, plus instant noodles bowls, dishes, cups, etc. The amount of utensils is increasing at a rate of 6% per year, and currently the manufacturers of pulp degradable tableware all over the country have more than 100 annual production capacity of 3 billion, a market gap of 7 billion, who will fill the gap? The products are divided into two major categories, five types: biodegradable materials and light-biodegradable materials; the five types are: paperboard coating type, pulp molding type, vegetable fiber molding type, food powder molding Type and photo-biodegradable plastics are non-foaming type.According to Dong Jinshi's introduction, this type of product has its own advantages and disadvantages. From the perspective of environmental protection performance and price advantage, the ideal is light. Biodegradable polypropylene cutlery Paperboard coating type (whether it is degradable film or not) cups are better, food boxes, bowls, and trays are not ideal; pulp molding type bowls are better, and food boxes and plates are expensive. Problems, sticky rice, etc. are difficult to promote; plant fiber molding has not yet found a particularly desirable use; color problems, brittleness problems, and control of harmful substances are difficult to solve, and development space is limited; edible powder molding is currently developing rapidly. , With a large space for development, has a great advantage in terms of price and performance, especially in the original powder, saccharification and foaming products; light-biodegradable plastic non-foaming food boxes and cups are more ideal ,Water and oil resistance performance, price have competitive advantage, recycling system is relatively sound, visual pollution is easy to solve, competition is dominant for a considerable period of time, therefore, the company must be clear about the product direction when setting up the project, environmental protection tableware items must be Carefully and fully understand the relevant national policies and the situation of the industry, we must not blindly introduce technology and develop membranes. When dealing with new generations, we cannot follow the feelings and make mistakes in investment decisions. â– The prophet who seized the “banned white†business opportunities China's disposable foaming tableware since 1986 was first used on trains, with an annual output of 12 billion, and disposable foam tableware has developed into a large-scale market. The original foam plastics production market was completely occupied by domestic companies. In 1993, with the entry of Taiwan's US chefs and Master Kong, the disposable foam plastics production market was gradually divided. At present, the foaming market is basically occupied by Taiwanese, Japanese, and Korean companies, and domestic companies only account for less than 20%. The Beijing Yanqi Central Chemical Co., Ltd. invested by Japan's Central Chemical Co., Ltd. was put into production in October 1996. It put on four production lines, two foaming tableware production lines, a TP production line (products can be added to degrade material), and a CT production line (products Environmental CT tableware). The production capacity of the foaming tableware production line is 3,500 tons per year. The latter two annual production capacity is 7,000-8,000 tons. Fu Wanqing, deputy general manager of Central Chemicals, said that when the two production lines for environmental protection products were put into production, it was not based on the prediction that foamed tableware would be banned sooner or later. It was felt that in the long run, environmental protection tableware would be environmentally friendly, grades, designs, and performance. Will have an advantage in the market. â– Small information: China's ban on the use of disposable foam plastic tableware memorabilia In 1995, some cities across the country have issued local regulations limiting the use of disposable plastic lunch boxes. On July 1, 1996, the Ministry of Railways prohibited the use of foam plastic lunch boxes at all railway stations in the country. In September 1998, the State Environmental Protection Administration and the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Communications, and the National Tourism Administration jointly issued the “Several Opinions on Strengthening the Management of Waste Plastic Packaging Waste in Key Traffic Routes, Watersheds, and Scenic Spotsâ€. On November 9, 1998, the State Environmental Protection Administration hosted a meeting and plans to eliminate disposable foam plastic tableware for one to two years from July 1, 1999. On February 2, 1999, the State Economic and Trade Commission issued the sixth order requesting the elimination of foam plastic tableware by 2001. In November 1999, the National Conference on Alternative Foods for Disposable Foamed Plastic Packaging was proposed. The foam plastic lunch boxes were eliminated within one year and replaced with environmentally-friendly appliances.