Present Situation and Development Trend of WPC in China
Plastic wood composite (WPC) is a new environment-friendly composite material, which uses wood fiber or plant fiber in various forms as reinforcement or filler, and combines it with thermoplastic resin (PP, PE, PVC, etc.) or other materials after pretreatment.
Plastic wood composite materials and their products have the dual characteristics of wood and plastic. They have a strong sense of wood. They can produce different colors according to needs. They have many characteristics that wood does not have: high mechanical properties, light weight, moisture resistance, acid and alkali resistance, easy cleaning, etc. At the same time, they overcome the shortcomings of wood materials such as high water absorption, easy deformation and cracking, easy to be eaten by insects and mildew.
Market status
With the encouragement of the national circular economy policy and the demand for potential benefits of enterprises, the nationwide "plastic wood craze" has gradually emerged.
According to incomplete statistics, in 2006, there were more than 150 enterprises and institutions directly or indirectly engaged in plastic wood R&D, production and supporting. Plastic wood enterprises are concentrated in the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta, and the east is far more than the central and western regions. Some enterprises in the east are leading in technology, while those in the south have absolute advantages in product quantity and market. The distribution of China's plastic wood industry is shown in Table 1.
There are tens of thousands of employees. The annual output and sales of plastic and wood products are close to 100000 tons, and the annual output value is about 1.2 billion yuan. The test samples of major technical representative enterprises in the industry have reached or exceeded the international advanced level.
As plastic wood materials conform to China's industrial policy of "building a resource saving and environment-friendly society" and "sustainable development", they have been developing rapidly since their appearance. Now it has infiltrated into the fields of construction, transportation, furniture and packaging, and its radiation and influence are expanding year by year.
China's natural wood resources are decreasing, while the market demand for wood products is increasing. The huge market demand and technological breakthrough will inevitably expand the market of plastic wood materials. From the perspective of market demand, plastic wood is most likely to start large-scale expansion in building materials, outdoor facilities, logistics and transportation, transportation facilities, household goods and other fields.