PVC packaging films are approaching to a critical point as the user industries are under huge pressures worldwide to find alternatives for the sake of food safety and environmental protection.

Much attention on safety issues

PVC packaging films feature high transparency, good resistance to oil, water vapor and oxygen, and strong corrosion resistance to acids, alkali and salt, which make them widely used in the packaging of food, beverages, electric cables and wires, building materials and irregular-shaped luxuries. However, they could harm human health if excessive vinyl chloride content or inappropriate additives are used.

On environmental side, PVC films also pose negative effects as waste PVC films adversely influence the ecological environment.

In view of these problems, many countries have launched regulations to ban or limit the use of PVC films. For instance, Europe has prohibited the use of PVC films in food packaging since 1992. Now, according to the World Packaging Organization (WPO), Japan, Singapore, Korea and all European countries have all banned PVC packaging films. Taiwan followed suit in 2006, with the implementation of the Waste Disposal Act.

In China, PVC food wrap has aroused much attention from the public nationwide. PVC tangle films for confectionery packaging, as well as PVC heat shrink films, have also been a focus.

Future lies on new additive development

Then, what will the future of PVC films be? According to the results of a voting initiated by Adsale Industry Portal, 42.31% of the respondents expected that PVC films would fade out in the food and pharmaceutical packaging markets, while 3.85% of the respondents even foresaw a halt.

There were more optimistic views. While 19% of the respondents did not see the complete replacement of PVC films by other materials, 27.92% expressed that PVC films will return to a leading position if new additives are developed.