Sharing of full-process observations and conference records from the Civil Aviation Green Tableware Industry Chain Innovation Forum at the 4th Civil Aviation Green Development Conference.
Why a Single Aviation Paper Cup Requires a Complete Evidence Chain
Civil aviation service scenarios possess systematic advantages of high standards, strong organization, traceability, and closed-loop management. Once an aviation paper cup enters the cabin or airport environment, it is no longer just a cup, but a systematic product jointly validated by material sourcing, barrier performance, food-contact compliance assessment, civil aviation operational standards, supply chain collaboration, recycling, and composting pathway assessment under applicable conditions.
This is also why paper-based packaging barrier engineering is entering an "evidence chain competition": future green tableware must answer not only "whether it is plastic-free, recyclable, or degradable," but also "on what basis it is compliant, on what basis it is procured, on what basis it is recycled, and on what basis it degrades."
Industry Collaboration from Materials to Civil Aviation Scenarios
Centered on BIOTEN's PHA bio-based aqueous barrier engineering system, DBC, Bluepha, and BASF, together with six industry chain partners—BPI, Air China Shantou Industry, Yibin Paper, Jindong Paper, UPM, and Sun Paper—have launched industry chain collaborative validation for paper-based tableware and food packaging across six specific civil aviation application scenarios: aviation paper food containers, Air China's full-category paper tableware, aviation bamboo-pulp paper cups, aviation cleaning paper bags, aviation snack packaging paper bags, and aviation food-specific paper bags.
The significance of this group of signings and collaborative launches lies in connecting raw materials, barrier engineering, paper, coating, products, and aviation applications into a continuous chain, bringing technical evaluation into application scenarios, and upgrading single-product substitution into multi-dimensional supply capabilities oriented toward civil aviation services.
Huang Peng, Deputy Director of the Hainan Provincial Development and Reform Commission, attended the forum and delivered a speech. The forum unfolded at the intersection of Hainan's green and low-carbon development and the green transformation of civil aviation, providing a more practically significant regional development perspective for innovation in the civil aviation green tableware industry chain.
For the green materials and paper-based packaging industries, Hainan is not only the conference host location but also a crucial window for observing the implementation of green consumption, low-carbon services, and sustainable industry scenarios. The connection between civil aviation, airports, urban consumption, and free trade port application scenarios provides a more organized and demonstrative practical foundation for green tableware to move from product display to systematic validation.
PHA Technical Foundation and Global Standards
Driven by long-term research and promotion from scientific forces represented by Professor Chen Guoqiang, Director of the Center for Synthetic and Systems Biology at Tsinghua University, PHA, a bio-based polymer material synthesized by microorganisms, is becoming one of the important technical routes for green packaging material innovation due to its degradation potential and post-use pathway advantages in various applicable environments. BIOTEN's PHA bio-based aqueous barrier coating system further translates these material advantages into the waterproofing, oil resistance, heat sealing, food-contact compliance assessment adaptation, and recycling repulping validation required for paper-based packaging, providing a candidate engineering pathway for systematic validation and industry collaboration of green tableware.
The Environmental Protection Committee of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, as one of the forum organizers, provided important support for venue organization and service guarantees. Ms. Wang Man, Assistant to the Chairman of the Civil Aviation Administration of China and Director of the Aviation Food Branch, participated throughout the forum agenda, focusing on the application feasibility of paper-based tableware in aviation food services, civil aviation operational standards, supply chain guarantees, and post-use recycling. Director Wang Man's participation connects industry organizations with aviation application scenarios, also indicating that the implementation of green tableware cannot focus solely on single-product substitution, but must form verifiable and comparable scenario solutions within aviation food processes, standard construction, supply guarantees, and closed-loop management.
Professor Chen Guoqiang, Director of the Center for Synthetic and Systems Biology at Tsinghua University, delivered a keynote presentation on "Degradation Boundaries and Green Packaging Applications of PHA, a Natural Polymer Material," establishing a materials science foundation for the forum.
Professor Chen elaborated on the scientific properties, degradation boundaries, safety, and green packaging applications of PHA. He emphasized that PHA is not merely a "biodegradable" label, but a natural polyester polymer synthesized by microorganisms. Its industrial value must be understood systematically within the context of bio-based sourcing, scalable production, application boundaries, usage safety, and end-of-life pathways.
Building on this materials science foundation, Bluepha is advancing the industrial production of PHA, while DBC is focusing on the engineered application of PHA in paper-based packaging. DBC has developed BIOTEN PHA dispersion emulsions and paper-based barrier coating systems, shifting PHA applications from film/lamination approaches to water-based barrier engineering routes better suited for paper coating processing, recycling, and composting pathway assessments under applicable conditions. The company is further conducting project validation and industrial collaboration targeting paper-based tableware and food packaging scenarios.
For paper-based packaging, the significance of PHA extends beyond providing a new bio-based material option. It lies in the ability to address functional shortcomings in water resistance, oil resistance, heat sealing, coating processing, and food packaging compatibility through water-based barrier engineering, while simultaneously accommodating paper recycling and repulping validation. This approach integrates material performance, user experience, recycling validation, and composting pathway assessments under applicable conditions into a single verifiable evidence chain.
Lu Sha, Associate Researcher at the College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, delivered a keynote presentation titled "Global Rules Reshaping the Paper-Based Packaging Industry Chain: Constraints or Directions? Examining Compliance Passports and Industrial Opportunities for Green Tableware from EUDR, PPWR, SUPD, EPR, PFAS to FDA/GB Standards." Her presentation advanced the forum's discussion from materials science to global regulations, compliance boundaries, and industrial evidence.
Lu Sha's presentation went beyond a simple regulatory interpretation, establishing a forward-looking judgment framework for the paper-based packaging industry chain. Previously, companies often expressed green value through terms such as "paper-based," "bio-based," "biodegradable," "fluorine-free," and "recyclable." However, under the new regulatory environment, what is truly scrutinized is not the concept itself, but whether a paper cup, food container, or paper bag can provide clear, complete, and verifiable evidence regarding its target market, intended use, and actual disposal conditions.
Within this framework, global regulations converge on a common industrial proposition: whether raw material sources are traceable, how food contact compliance is assessed, whether coatings and additives involve substances of concern, whether product structures impact recycling and repulping, whether green claims are supported by testing and documentation, and how end-of-life reuse is practically implemented.
She specifically cautioned that recyclable base paper does not necessarily mean the finished paper cup is recyclable, nor does biodegradable material guarantee that formed tableware will be accepted in all scenarios. Water-based coatings, bio-based materials, and low-carbon claims must all be scrutinized within the context of the final product structure, testing subjects, usage conditions, and customer audit documentation. Within this regulatory framework, the value of BIOTEN PHA should not be understood merely as a material or coating, but as part of a verifiable evidence system that includes bio-based attribute verification, water-based coating, formulation design without intentional addition of PFAS and related testing boundaries, food contact compliance assessment, recycling and repulping validation, and composting pathway assessments under applicable conditions.
Lu Sha further pointed out that those who can organize materials, coatings, base paper, finished products, testing, customer access, and end-of-life reuse into a complete evidence package will be better positioned to take the initiative in the next round of green packaging competition.
Carsten Höhne, Senior Vice President of Global Resins and Additives at BASF, delivered a keynote presentation on BASF's sustainability strategy, low-carbon product portfolio, and circular economy pathways, providing industrial insights from a global materials company for the forum.
BASF's global practices indicate that the sustainable transformation of packaging has moved from single-material substitution to an engineering collaboration stage. Product carbon footprints, alternative raw materials, utilization of renewable and recycled resources, coating functionality, performance, and circular pathways must all align. This industrial perspective also explains the value of the collaboration between BASF and DBC on BIOTEN PHA dispersion emulsions and paper-based barrier coating systems: leveraging the technology and methodology of a global materials company to support engineered implementation in local application scenarios.
Lin Fanqiu, Chairman of DBC Group Co., Ltd., delivered a keynote presentation titled "From Cabin to Airport: BIOTEN Barrier Engineering System and Synergy with Global Green Regulations." His remarks built upon the preceding discussions on materials R&D innovation and global regulations, further directing the conversation toward industry, manufacturing, and product applications.
Addressing industry partners, Lin Fanqiu deconstructed an aviation paper cup from a product manager's perspective: it is not merely a material substitution issue, but a complete product engineering system comprising material systems, barrier mechanisms, heat sealing principles, coating processing, forming compatibility, user experience, food contact compliance assessment, recycling, and composting pathway assessments under applicable conditions.
He emphasized that for BIOTEN PHA to achieve commercial recognition, it cannot remain at the conceptual level. It requires industry partners across paper manufacturing, coating, cup forming, equipment, testing, airline catering, and airports to engage in the development process. Issues must be understood, boundaries confirmed, and products improved through sample development, testing and evaluation, production line adaptation, finished product acceptance, and end-of-life reuse data.
In Lin Fanqiu's view, DBC is advancing not just a coating product, but a green supply chain model. Using the high standards, strict regulations, and organized service scenarios of civil aviation as a window, DBC is exploring a pathway from cabin usage to airport recycling, and from product R&D to scenario replication.
Peng Yikang, Head of Environmental Affairs at the Strategic Planning and Investment Department of China Southern Airlines Company Limited, presented and provided key interpretations of the T/CATAGS 78-2024 standard, 'Specifications for the Substitution of Single-Use Non-Degradable Plastic Products on Domestic Passenger Flights,' bringing the forum's discussion back to civil aviation green standards and operational practices.
His presentation focused on the development of plastic restrictions in civil aviation, the content of group standards, and suggestions for addressing practical issues. He emphasized that substituting single-use non-degradable plastic products must comply with civil aviation food safety and operational safety standards, while also considering actual civil aviation operations, product functionality, and market supply capabilities.
For paper-based tableware and food packaging, this means that substitute products must not only be 'greener in material' but also withstand multiple tests, including flight service, food contact, storage and distribution, passenger use, supply assurance, and post-use recycling.
Xu Xuanming, Chairman of Bluepha Co., Ltd., delivered a keynote presentation on 'The Industrialization and Commercialization of Green Biomaterials.' He outlined the key pathways for green biomaterials to transition from scientific research to industrial and commercial applications, covering upstream PHA biomanufacturing, material family development, industrial base construction, and application ecosystem building.
Xu Xuanming's presentation further illustrated that the value of PHA lies not only in its inherent characteristics as a bio-based and biodegradable material, but also in its ability to enable multi-scenario applications. For BIOTEN's PHA paper-based barrier system, upstream PHA industrialization capabilities serve as a crucial foundation for subsequent engineering applications, scenario implementation, and commercial advancement.
From Bluepha's PHA industrial production capabilities to DBC's PHA aqueous dispersion and paper-based barrier engineering development technologies, and further to the collaborative advancement involving paper manufacturers, product fabricators, and civil aviation service scenarios, green biomaterials are moving toward an industrial ecosystem supported by 'raw material supply, engineering conversion, scenario application, and commercial implementation.'
Coating, Product Fabrication, and Supply Chain Validation
Wang Jizhou, Chairman of Jin Yinlian (Tianjin) New Materials Technology Co., Ltd., delivered a keynote presentation on 'Safe, Stable, and Efficient PHA Aqueous Coated Paper Supply Chain Solutions,' advancing the forum's discussion to the aqueous coated paper supply chain and large-scale delivery stages.
As one of the coating enterprises to pioneer the commercial application of BIOTEN's PHA bio-based aqueous barrier coatings, Jin Yinlian provided crucial industrial support for this technical route to transition from material solutions to mass coating and market delivery. Regarding BIOTEN's PHA bio-based aqueous barrier coating system, Jin Yinlian established a complete supply chain system capable of achieving stable coating, mass production, quality control, customer acceptance, and continuous delivery for BIOTEN's various product specifications.
Wang Jizhou's presentation further indicated that over the past few months, with collaborative support from DBC and BASF, the Jin Yinlian team has gradually developed mass coating and delivery capabilities for BIOTEN PHA bio-based aqueous barrier coated paper, oriented toward commercial applications. As a key supply-side link connecting the barrier coating system with downstream tableware fabrication and forming enterprises, Jin Yinlian is equipped with a relatively complete coating equipment and self-inspection laboratory system, providing robust supply assurance to meet the growing market demand for PHA aqueous-coated paper.
Li Xiang, Chairman of Guangzhou Linuo High-Tech Co., Ltd., delivered a keynote presentation on 'Tableware Process Adaptation, Performance Balance, and Export Market Demand,' further advancing the forum's discussion to product fabrication, quality control, brand delivery, and global market application stages.
As a representative of a frontline enterprise with long-term expertise in paper-based tableware manufacturing, Li Xiang's presentation not only discussed 'what customers need' but also emphasized how China's paper-based packaging industry chain should proactively define sustainable product capabilities. China possesses a globally complete, mature, and rapidly responsive paper-based packaging manufacturing system; it should not merely focus on fulfilling orders and passively adapting to customer standards, but should leverage engineering thinking, quality systems, and brand awareness to provide the global market with more stable, credible, and sustainable paper-based tableware solutions.
For BIOTEN's PHA bio-based aqueous barrier engineering, the product fabrication stage is not merely a processing step, but a critical validation ground for whether the technical route can translate into customer and brand value. Whether a paper cup, food container, or paper bowl can truly enter the market depends on its comprehensive performance across forming, heat sealing, stacking, transportation, filling, user experience, food contact compliance assessment, post-use pathways, and customer acceptance.
Li Xiang's presentation further indicated that the next phase for paper-based tableware is not just about 'turning green materials into products,' but about organizing materials, processes, quality, brands, and sustainability evidence into a deliverable system solution. If China's manufacturing sector can systematize this capability, it will not only serve global customer needs but also participate in defining new global standards for green paper-based packaging.
Zhu Chengfeng, Chairman of Zhongyin Environmental Protection Technology (Zhejiang) Co., Ltd., delivered a keynote presentation on "Highlights of PHA Bio-Based Waterborne Coated Paper in Market Promotion," further advancing the forum's discussion to the stages of market promotion, customer awareness, and application conversion for waterborne coated paper.
As one of the coating enterprises to pioneer the use of BIOTEN's PHA bio-based waterborne barrier coating, Zhongyin Environmental Protection has provided crucial industrial support for this technical route to transition from material solutions to market validation and customer promotion.
From a frontline market perspective, Zhu's presentation highlighted that customers are primarily concerned not with the material name itself, but with whether the product can provide clear answers regarding the balance between performance, cost, processing, compliance, and sustainable value. Compared to some waterborne barrier routes represented by acrylics and EAA, the differentiated value of BIOTEN's PHA lies not only in its waterborne coating and barrier performance, but also in specific differentiated aspects that require item-by-item verification. These include bio-based attributes, the boundary of formula design regarding the intentional addition of PFAS, recycling and repulping, composting pathways under applicable conditions, and carbon impact assessment. These aspects are not mutually substitutable and each requires independent evidentiary support.
For BIOTEN's PHA bio-based waterborne barrier engineering, market promotion is not merely about stacking labels such as "bio-based," "biodegradable," and "waterborne coating." Instead, it involves translating material highlights into application value that customers can perceive, test, compare, and repurchase. Zhu's presentation further clarified that effective market promotion is essentially a process of organizing an evidence chain: whether BIOTEN's PHA can transition from technical highlights to market consensus depends on whether the product can meet food contact and performance requirements, align with customers' existing production and supply systems, and establish clear value across cost, performance, compliance, recycling, and end-of-life pathways.
Zhang Taojie, Chairman of Hunan Lile Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd., delivered a keynote presentation on "Sharing of Domestic and International Markets for Waterborne Coated Paper Tableware." As one of the product manufacturers to early collaborate with industry chain partners such as BASF, DBC, and APP Golden Agri-Resources to promote the application of waterborne coated paper, Hunan Lile has long specialized in waterborne coated paper-based tableware. The company has accumulated solid frontline experience in the forming, printing, stacking, cup separation, heat resistance, and customer delivery of products such as paper cups and bowls. Over the past five years, it has also received continuous validation and recognition from global markets and diverse brand customers for its high-quality water-coated paper cups.
Drawing from real-world production practices, Zhang's presentation offered a critical industry assessment: the waterborne coating route is currently being discussed and evaluated across multiple markets. Projects cannot rely solely on material parameters; they must also verify cup forming, printing, stacking, shipping, and customer usage conditions on actual production lines. Hunan Lile takes pride not only in producing water-coated paper cups, but in successfully driving waterborne coated paper-based products toward branded, scaled, and market-ready delivery under the higher demands of global customers.
At the event, Zhang showcased a BIOTEN PHA bio-based waterborne barrier paper cup that had just been sampled by Hunan Lile engineers prior to the forum. He specifically noted that he instructed the technical team to use full-coverage black printing to test common pain points of waterborne coated paper cups. Full-coverage dark printing imposes higher demands on ink adhesion, anti-set-off, anti-smudging, and stacking stability. This BIOTEN PHA paper cup withstood the test, demonstrating good printing adaptability and anti-smudging performance.
In Zhang's view, the BIOTEN PHA bio-based waterborne barrier paper cup is not a simple repetition of existing water-coated products, but an upgrade addressing evolving customer needs. While retaining the processing and delivery advantages of waterborne coated paper cups, it further incorporates bio-based attributes, sustainable value, and a more comprehensive evidence chain space, offering global customers more options. This on-site detail indicates that the value of BIOTEN PHA needs to be further confirmed through product-line validation at the manufacturing end, customer audits, and actual usage conditions.
Ouyang Pengfei, Director and Vice President of Bluepha Co., Ltd., delivered a keynote presentation on "Industrialized Supply Capabilities for PHA Bio-Based Raw Materials via Biological Manufacturing," bringing the forum's discussion back to the upstream raw material foundation of BIOTEN's PHA paper-based barrier engineering.
Ouyang's presentation covered halophilic bacteria biological manufacturing, carbon source conversion efficiency, non-grain carbon source utilization, fermentation space-time yield, and cost reduction through scale-up. He explained that for PHA to truly enter the paper-based tableware and food packaging markets, it cannot remain merely at the level of material science and application imagination; it must possess stable, sustainable, cost-reducing project supply and production line synergy capabilities. For BIOTEN's PHA bio-based waterborne barrier engineering, Bluepha's upstream industrialization capabilities serve as an important foundation for DBC's development of PHA dispersion emulsions and high-performance paper-based barrier coating systems. They also provide the underlying support for this technical route to transition from sample evaluation to project validation, production line integration, customer qualification, and commercial delivery.
Wang Junming, Technical Director of Shandong Bohui Paper Co., Ltd., participated on-site in the collaborative launch of the "Aviation Paper Food Container" scenario. Bohui Paper provides high-quality aviation food container paper for this scenario and collaborates with industry chain partners to jointly advance the collaborative validation of BIOTEN PHA paper-based waterborne barrier coatings in aspects such as oil resistance, water resistance, stiffness, forming, food contact compliance assessment, and adaptation to airline catering distribution.
Pan Tianyi, Marketing Director of Shandong Sun Paper Co., Ltd., participated on-site in the collaborative launch of the "Aviation Food Dedicated Paper Bag" scenario. Sun Paper provides high-quality paper-based material support for this scenario and collaborates with industry chain partners to jointly advance the collaborative validation of BIOTEN PHA paper-based waterborne barrier coatings in food packaging adaptation, moisture barrier, printing and processing, bag forming, food contact compliance assessment, and civil aviation food supply scenarios.
Xia Xiaohui, Sales Manager for Packaging Paper Business Development at UPM (China) Co., Ltd., participated on-site in the collaborative launch of the "aviation snack packaging paper bag" scenario. As a key player in global paper-based materials and packaging paper, UPM provides high-quality packaging paper material support for this scenario and collaborates with industry chain partners to advance the moisture-proof, oxygen-barrier, printability, bag-forming adaptability, food-contact compliance assessment, and application scenario validation of BIOTEN's PHA paper-based waterborne barrier coating in aviation snack packaging.
Zeng Xiangbin, Deputy Marketing Director of Yibin Paper Co., Ltd., participated on-site in the collaborative launch of the "aviation bamboo pulp paper cup" scenario. Yibin Paper provides high-quality bamboo pulp paper for this scenario and collaborates with industry chain partners to advance the waterproof, leak-proof, hot-beverage adaptability, printability, cup-forming, food-contact compliance assessment, and application scenario validation of BIOTEN's PHA paper-based waterborne barrier coating in aviation bamboo pulp paper cups, offering more diverse paper-based material options for aviation paper cups.
Hou Xiaozheng, Assistant General Manager of Air China Shantou Industrial Development Co., Ltd., participated on-site in the collaborative launch of the "Air China full-category paper tableware" scenario. As a key scenario provider connecting aviation service environments, in-flight catering supply chains, and paper tableware application needs, Air China Shantou Industrial leverages the high requirements, standards, and regulations of civil aviation service scenarios to provide real operational needs and scenario validation support for BIOTEN's PHA paper-based waterborne barrier coating entering applications across full-category paper tableware such as aviation meal boxes, paper cups, paper bowls, and food packaging. It collaborates with industry chain partners to jointly validate material performance, user experience, food-contact compliance assessment, supply adaptability, and post-use pathways.
Li Juan, Technical Director of Jindong Paper (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd., participated on-site in the collaborative launch of the "aviation cleaning paper bag" scenario. As a key player in China's high-end cultural paper and specialty paper sectors, Jindong Paper provides high-quality paper-based material support for this scenario and collaborates with industry chain partners to advance the application scenario validation of BIOTEN's PHA paper-based waterborne barrier coating in aviation cleaning paper bags, focusing on strength performance, water resistance, oil resistance, printability, bag-forming adaptability, user experience, recycling friendliness, and compostable degradation.
From aviation tableware to agricultural mulch paper, BIOTEN's PHA bio-based waterborne barrier engineering is expanding the boundaries of paper-based applications. Wan Ruoyu, Chairman of Wuxi Wanjia Technology Co., Ltd., participated on-site in the special signing ceremony for the "Agricultural Mulch Paper · BIOTEN PHA Application Cooperation." The collaboration focuses on developing and validating the compostable and degradable system applications of BIOTEN's PHA bio-based waterborne barrier coating on agricultural mulch paper, and will pioneer application exploration in high-environmental-standard markets such as tobacco cultivation.
As the final segment of the forum, the roundtable discussion served to consolidate the transition from thematic presentations to industry consensus. Lin Fanqiu, Chairman of DBC Group Co., Ltd., moderated the session around the theme "From Cabin to Airport, Viewing Packaging Materials through Global Standards: How to Define Scenarios, Rules, and Trends?" guiding guests to exchange views across dimensions including civil aviation applications, airport commerce, global standards, and material trends.
The value of this roundtable lies not in reiterating previous points, but in reorganizing the forum's earlier content on PHA material science, global compliance standards, paper-based barrier engineering, civil aviation standard promotion, raw material supply, coating processing, product delivery, and scenario collaboration into a more core industry question: What will define the next phase of green tableware?
The answer is not a single material, nor a single standard, but is jointly defined by real-world scenarios, global standards, engineering capabilities, and post-use pathways.
First, it is defined by real-world scenarios.
Zhang Honglin, Chairman of Air China Shantou Industrial Development Co., Ltd., shared real-world needs, operational standards, and application focus points that paper tableware faces when entering in-flight catering supply and aviation service systems, starting from the perspective of aviation service scenarios. As a frontline industry player with long-term service in aviation tableware application scenarios, his focus is not on the material name itself, but on whether a paper cup, meal box, or food packaging bag can truly adapt to the complete operational process of meal preparation, storage and transportation, distribution, passenger use, food-contact compliance assessment, and supply assurance.
His sharing brought the roundtable back to a very practical question: The aviation scenario is neither a laboratory nor a single-product showcase. A green tableware solution can only truly validate its professionalism, stability, and replicability by entering the civil aviation service system with its high standards, strict requirements, and rigorous regulations.
Zhang Honglin also specifically noted that the value of BIOTEN's PHA bio-based waterborne barrier system lies not only in meeting the single direction of "degradability," but also in simultaneously opening up validation for recycling and repulping and assessment of composting pathways under applicable conditions in real civil aviation scenarios. For airport and aviation service systems, passenger flow, catering consumption, and waste collection are highly organized and manageable. If post-use paper-based tableware can be sorted for recycling and high-value repulping, with compostable degradation serving as a fallback pathway for contaminated or non-recyclable portions, this approach is more operational and exemplary than simply emphasizing "degradation."
This also responds to a key judgment in the roundtable: The cabin defines usage standards, while the airport defines recycling pathways.
Cabin operations focus on food safety, passenger experience, and operational safety; airports focus on sorted collection, recycling and repulping, data tracking, and closed-loop management. The value of the civil aviation scenario lies in the fact that, while it is not the largest consumption scenario for disposable tableware, it may be the most suitable model scenario for pioneering a high-quality closed loop for green tableware.
Second, it is defined by airport commercial and public service scenarios.
Ji Ping, Global Application Technology Expert at BASF (China) Co., Ltd., shared observations on airport commercial operations and green packaging trends, drawing on multiple rounds of exchanges with airport stakeholders such as Hongqiao Airport. Airports are not just high-footfall consumption scenarios; they are also public service scenarios characterized by high standards, high visibility, and strong organization. If paper-based packaging in coffee, fast food, retail, airline catering, and lounge services can achieve stable application, sorted collection, recycling and repulping, and data feedback pathways at airports, it has the potential to become an important model for city-level green consumption scenarios.
From the perspective of global materials companies, the trend in green packaging is no longer just about "switching to a different material," but about validating material functionality, processing adaptability, customer acceptance, recycling pathways, and low-carbon claims within a single integrated system. Ji Ping's sharing further illustrates that airport commercial operations are a critical entry point for green packaging to transition from product application to scenario-based closed loops. This environment can test the performance of paper-based packaging, as well as the viability of recycling pathways, customer acceptance, and replicable value.
Third, it is defined by global regulations.
Researcher Lu Sha addressed "how to define regulations" from a global regulatory perspective. Her insights advanced the roundtable discussion from "whether the product can be used" to "whether the evidence can be recognized."
Global regulations such as EUDR, PPWR, SUPD, EPR, PFAS restrictions, and FDA/GB standards, although originating from different markets and regulatory systems, collectively point to a trend: the focus of green packaging scrutiny is shifting from material labels to evidence regarding the final product.
In the future, green tableware cannot simply claim to be "paper-based, bio-based, biodegradable, fluorine-free, or recyclable." It must also answer whether raw material sources are traceable, how food-contact compliance is assessed, whether coatings and additives are explainable, whether the product structure affects recycling and repulping, whether green claims are supported by testing and documentation, and whether the post-use pathway actually enters a recycling system or an industrial composting system, or remains merely theoretical.
In other words, the industry is moving from "what is banned" to "on what basis."
Customers will not only ask whether it is a green material, but will ask: on what basis is it compliant? On what basis is it accepted? Where does it go after use?
Researcher Lu Sha's sharing further reinforced the roundtable consensus: the next phase for green tableware is not a competition of material labels, but a competition of evidence chains for the final product. Whoever can organize raw materials, materials, barrier structures, food-contact compliance assessments, recycling and repulping, customer acceptance, and post-use pathways into a verifiable, deliverable, and auditable evidence system will have a better opportunity to enter high-standard markets.
Fourth, it is defined by material trends and technological iteration.
Professor Chen Guoqiang addressed "how to define trends" from the perspective of PHA materials science and the long-term trends in biomanufacturing. In previous discussions, panelists had already discussed the value of BIOTEN's PHA bio-based aqueous barrier system in the final product evidence chain from the dimensions of global regulations, civil aviation scenarios, airport commercial operations, and paper-based barrier engineering. Lin Fanqiu further turned the question back to Professor Chen Guoqiang during the roundtable: now that PHA has an industrial production foundation and is beginning to enter paper-based packaging barrier engineering scenarios, how can this technological route continue to iterate in the future? Does it possess the underlying capabilities to continuously reduce costs, continuously upgrade, and continuously support global green packaging trends?
Professor Chen Guoqiang's response provided deeper technological confidence for "defining trends." The value of PHA lies not only in its bio-based and biodegradable attributes, nor only in its currently realized industrial production capacity, but more importantly in the continuous evolution of the biomanufacturing technology behind it. With the ongoing advancement of more efficient fermentation technologies, more diverse carbon source utilization pathways, and the optimization of strains and processes, PHA still has room in the future to further improve efficiency, reduce costs, and expand application boundaries; from a longer-term technological perspective, there is also the potential to further explore the possibility of using lower-carbon sources such as carbon dioxide as carbon feedstocks.
This also makes the industrial trend of BIOTEN's PHA clearer: it is not a static material solution, but a paper-based packaging barrier engineering route that can continuously upgrade alongside advancements in biomanufacturing technology.
For paper-based packaging, the trend is not simply switching from one material to another, but moving from "material substitution" to "engineerably controllable, evidence-verifiable, and scenario-replicable."
In each round of discussion, Lin Fanqiu brought the panelists' viewpoints back to the core proposition facing the entire industry chain: green tableware for civil aviation is not a matter of one material replacing another, but a matter of how an industry uses real-world scenarios to validate regulations, engineering, and evidence chains.
The roundtable, originally time-limited, ultimately extended until 1:00 PM. The sustained high level of attention from on-site guests and industry chain viewers indicates that the topic of "from cabin to airport" has already resonated among materials companies, paper manufacturers, coating producers, product manufacturers, airline caterers, airport commercial operators, and end customers.
What it truly touches is not just the replacement of green tableware, but how China's paper-based packaging industry chain can build its own engineering capabilities, evidence capabilities, and scenario definition capabilities amidst the global reshaping of green rules.
The industry consensus formed at the roundtable is that the competition for green tableware is moving from 'product substitution' to 'evidence chain competition'. Whoever can organize material sourcing, barrier performance, food-contact compliance assessment, civil aviation operational standards, supply chain delivery, recycling and repulping, and compostable degradation pathways under applicable conditions into a verifiable, deliverable, and collaborative system capability will have a better chance of defining the next phase of green tableware for civil aviation.
More importantly, the roundtable discussion did not stop at the conceptual level but further pointed to an action path: driven by real-world scenarios, quickly form samples, scenarios, metrics, and participants; generate data around barrier properties, heat sealing, food contact, and initial repulping assessments; and ultimately validate application and recycling pathways in cabin and airport commercial scenarios. This also echoes the action rhythm emphasized by the roundtable: form a plan in 30 days, generate data in 90 days, and create a pilot model in 180 days.
It is in this sense that the BIOTEN PHA bio-based aqueous barrier system responds not just to a single material application, but to a new trend emerging in the global paper-based packaging market:
Moving from conceptual green to evidence-based green, from material substitution to system validation, and from single-point products to full-chain collaboration.
The final judgment left by this roundtable is very clear:
Engineering is controllable, evidence is traceable, and scenarios are replicable.
When an aviation paper cup can simultaneously answer 'can it be used, can it be collected, can it be verified, and can it be replicated', it is no longer just a product, but a validation entry point for whether a green supply chain is truly established.
From Forum Discussion to Action Path
At the end of the forum, Lin Fanqiu summarized the discussion. He stated that although today's topics seem professional and even have some technical barriers, this makes it all the more necessary to view the industry chain partners present as co-developers rather than bystanders outside the industry.
From material science, global rules, civil aviation scenarios, airport commerce, coating processing to product delivery, every guest's sharing today points to a common judgment: the next phase of green tableware can no longer remain at the level of slogans, labels, and route debates, but must return to scientific facts, engineering validation, and the final product evidence chain.
In the past, the industry had many different voices, as well as misunderstandings and debates about material routes. But today, with rules becoming clearer, customer audits becoming stricter, and technical information becoming more transparent, what product manufacturing enterprises truly need to judge is not whose voice is louder, but who can clearly explain several key questions: on what basis is it compliant, on what basis does it pass acceptance, and where will the product go after use.
This is also the problem that the Bioten bio-based aqueous barrier system hopes to solve. It does not simply replace one material with another, but aims to combine the bio-based attributes of PHA, its degradation potential under various applicable environments, with the water resistance, oil resistance, heat sealing, food-contact compliance assessment adaptation, recycling and repulping validation, and compostable pathway assessment under applicable conditions required by paper-based packaging, to form a barrier engineering solution truly oriented towards final products.
What China's paper-based packaging industry chain truly needs to see is not just the current market of tens of thousands of tons of aqueous-coated paper, but the expanding global market opportunity for paper-based substitution of plastics in tableware, food packaging, and various other packaging. Whoever can be the first to organize materials, barrier engineering, product processing, scenario validation, recycling and repulping, and post-use pathways into a complete evidence chain will have a better chance to participate in defining the next generation of the global paper-based packaging market.
Today, what is truly important is not just proving what a single aviation paper cup can change, but through such a specific product, through a low-carbon, eco-friendly small paper cup that everyone can touch, re-understanding how a green supply chain can truly be established.
To do aqueous-coated paper well and achieve scale requires a top-leader project, an engineer's mindset, and a product manager's perspective. Only in this way can enterprises truly get moving and keep up with the industrial development window brought by this round of certain global policy trends.
Forum moderator: Zhang Xi, BASF
Finally, two more photos to acknowledge and thank the attendees for their focus and dedication: The conference officially started at 8:30 AM and concluded at 1:00 PM, and everyone stayed throughout! Thank you!!
↑ 8:30
↑ 13:00
The successful hosting of this forum was made possible by the support and collaboration of all parties. The Center for Synthetic and Systems Biology at Tsinghua University, DBC, BASF, and Bluepha extend their joint gratitude:
Special thanks to the China Air Transport Association, the Aviation Environmental Protection Working Committee of the China Air Transport Association, the Aviation Food Branch of the China Air Transport Association, as well as Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and their affiliated entities for their strong support. We also thank the sincere support from practitioners in the paper-based packaging industry chain. We will continue to innovate and host thematic activities conducive to the high-quality sustainable development of the industry.
At the same time, we thank the following supporting organizations for their important contributions to this forum:
APP (China) Investment Co., Ltd. UPM (China) Co., Ltd. Shandong Sun Paper Co., Ltd. Yibin Paper Co., Ltd. Jin Yin Lian (Tianjin) New Material Technology Co., Ltd. Zhongyin Environmental Protection Technology (Zhejiang) Co., Ltd. Hunan Lile Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd. Guangzhou Lino High-Tech Co., Ltd. Reed Exhibitions (China) Investment Co., Ltd.
From the cabin to the airport, from material innovation to scenario validation, and from single-product substitution to system collaboration, the next phase of green catering tableware in civil aviation relies on the joint participation, validation, and promotion of all parties in the industry chain.
