What is really redefined is not paper-based winners, but the application boundaries of each material and functional layer.
Green packaging and material observation / MATERIAL SYSTEMS
BIOTEN Packaging:: Industry insight
Ecological and Environmental Code Takes Effect Today: Paper Replacing Plastic, or Plastic Replacing Paper?
The Code does not declare a package to be successful. This explains why the PE lymphs are made in paper form along the scene, functional layers, material efficiency, real recovery and compliance evidence. 1.0 Ages, Aquatic Acid, PLA, PBAT, PEF andBIOTENHow would the new PHA water barrier route facilitate a re-distribution of labour in the next round?
The scenes, the functional layers, the manufacturing, the terminal path, the evidence.
Core Judgement / CORE JUDGEMENT
The regulation does not really promote “paper-win plastic” or “plastic roller”, but rather the packaging moving from material to system competition.
00. THE QUESTION
The conflict is real. The alternative is fake.
15 August 2026 The most controversial argument that the packaging industry is prone to lightening is whether it is a new round of paper-substitution benefits or, if plastics are designed for light quantification, single materialization and recycling, will they then be replaced by paper packaging?
The code requires green design, less packaging, anti-overpacking, recycling, cleaner production and step-by-step carbon footprint management; it does not declare a victory by material name.
What really deserves to be studied is how paper, traditional plastics, bio-based polymers, functional coatings and reuse systems can be redistributed in different settings. The same packaging should answer: Can products be protected, can produce with the least possible material, can manufacture stabilize, can use them into a realistic recovery or fitting disposal path, and whether total costs and environmental claims are supported by evidence.
The application scene.. Needs to combine the building blocks with the functional layers..
01 • FIVE GATES
The code doesn't have a material station. It has five doors for packaging.
Article 973 encourages green packaging and packaging reduction, requires compliance with mandatory standards limiting excessive packaging, and specifies that packaging materials, structures and costs should suit the contents. Article 974 requires e-commerce, express-delivery and takeaway businesses to reduce packaging use and prioritize reusable and readily recyclable packaging. Article 998 concerns non-degradable single-use plastics such as plastic bags that are prohibited or restricted by law, while encouraging reusable, readily recyclable, degradable and harmless alternatives.
01 The X-ray door. The tasks of protection, hygiene, transportation and use are accomplished first to avoid damage, leakage and waste of content.
02 The X-ray door. To stabilize the necessary functionality with fewer complete structural materials.
03 The door to the mill. Include VOCs, chemical substances, cleaner production and process stabilization in programmes.
04 The door to the rim. From "Theory"recyclable“To be collected, sorted, regenerated or adapted to disposal.”
05 The evidence door. Environmental claims are supported by testing boundaries, methods, data, authentication scope and areas of application.
Articles 213 to 215 of the Code require that primary materials containing volatile organic matter, low-volatile products and associated markings be regulated; articles 644 to 649, which establish a logic for managing risks from chemical substances and new pollutants. Ink, glue, coating and cleaning processes are no longer mere procurement parameters but also environmental management targets.
Article 944 also places paper in the context of a green low-carbon transformation in traditional industries , for low-carbon energy conservation, cleaner production and upgrading of process equipment; Compulsory recovery liability under article 977 must correspond to legally established lists and management practices Article 13 sets out the direction of a carbon footprint system for products. They cannot be expanded in advance to uniform rules covering all packagings.
The basis of the legislation is: Official text of the Environmental Code of the People ' s Republic of China
Important boundaries: The Ministry of Ecology has clearly and simultaneously promoted document cleansing, the improvement of the supporting system and standard amendments. 8 months 15 is an important node for the commencement of the application of a uniform legal framework, and does not represent all catalogues, standards and technical rules completed on the same day.
The regulation does not actually phase out a material; it is packaging that cannot explain functionality, reduction, manufacture, recovery and evidence.
02. Papar Boundary
Paper will continue to grow, but "paper" is not a de-checkable label.
Fiber-based packagingThe advantages are clear: good performance and printing, suitable for catering devices, boxes, transport overpacks and large quantities of dry commodities; mature fibre recovery systems that also provide a better circulation base for well-structured, less polluting paper packaging. Electric logistics, branding, dry food, and part of the restaurant scene still leave room for expansion of paper-based schemes.
But fibre networks are porous, water-friendly and have limited capacity to undertake waterproofing, oilproofing and damping, resistance to oxygen and heat seals alone. Entering the wet heat, fat or long shelf stage usually requires coating, a lymphine, glue or multilayered structures. Once the functional layer is too thick, difficult to separate, or when there is a significant increase in gram weight for the purpose of filling it, the original recovery and reduction advantage of paper packaging may be weakened.
Positive casesBASF X DBC x APP X Lido
2023 Four industry chain companies have co-existed the disclosure of paper cups and food cards with water high performance barrier-free resin programs to improve waterproofing, oilproofing and heatproofing. It suggests that new opportunities for paper growth come from building blocks and functional layers working together instead of paper itself doing all the barriers naturally. 2025 The first release was a series of events. World's firstLarge paper online water-painted paper volume.
Evidence boundary: Relevant paper and barrier materials are available for recovery, evidence of suitability and extensive market use.
So the real opportunity for the paper-based industry is not to mechanically delete "plastic" but to improve it. Material efficiency for unit function : Use a thinner, more stable and better-suited functional layer of the target recovery system to allow fibre subjects into previously unavailable but not in need of extreme barrier.
Source: DBCandBASFJoint technical disclosure
03 • FUNCTIONAL LAYER
PE is not a sin. It's finished with the paper. 1.0 The blogger says:
The engineering contribution of the PE lymphs needs to be seen fairly. Paperboards provide a high degree of strength, shape and printing, while thin polyethylene layers are refilled with wet, liquid maintenance and heat sealing that allow for high-speed, stable, and scalding production of cups, catering containers, and parts of liquid and fat packagings. Without this functional collaboration, many packages that appear “paper-based” have not been really replaced by full plastic structures in the past.
The stage judgement is a "FROM". 1.0 TO NEXT
Paper Shape1.0: The first is to address whether paper can perform the packing tasks. PE serves as a long-term benchmark with mature permers, cups, hot seals, costs and supply chain windows.
Next stage: Make the function layer thinner, more easily separated, better suited for recycling or move to a more appropriate source and terminal path without retrogression.
The design guide of the EU ropean Paper Federation explicitly recognizes that paper packaging is designed to meet barriers and constraintsfood contactAt times, such functions need to be painted or compounded; it is critical that the combination approach does not impede recovery and should be validated according to the collection and regeneration conditions of the target market.
PPWR also did not use the phrase “no permeable permime” to summarize all paper-based composite packagings. The annex lists paper cups, liquid packaging cardboard and plastic coating sheeting as composite packing categories with polyolefin film in the main paper/paper board, while requiring all packaging to meet progressively the conditions for material recovery design and scalability. Packet threshold Instead of replacing engineering with a material name.
Go to the PE only if alternative routes are secured simultaneously, with a heat seal, speed of wire, good rate, food contactThe effective upgrade is when costs and real end paths are involved; otherwise, only a visible plastic layer will be replaced by a new layer where evidence is less clear.
Source: CEPIfiber-based packagingrecyclabledesign guidelines; official PPWR text
04 • MATERIAL PASSPORTS
The new material is not a substitute list, but five different "material passports"
Advances in bio-based materials aim to retain plastic-like film formation, tactile qualities, transparency, toughness, heat sealing and barriers while changing carbon sources, material use or end-of-use pathways. Bio-based, biodegradable and compostable are distinct claims and cannot be determined from a resin name alone.
Conceptual calibration of THREE DIFERENT CLAIMS
Biobases only indicate that the feedstock is derived wholly or partly from biological resources, and it is not inevitable thatbiodegradableorcompostable (a) The following: biodegradableThe environment and conditions must be specified; compostableThe past means entering a specific area. Industrially compostableFacilities, in the future. CompostableIt's a general reference to satisfying. Home compostableAnd first, it needs to be matched. RecyclableThe conditions. There is no common ocean in the EU. BiodegradationStandard.
01 / PLA Polylectic acid
High maturity, but terminal path must be clear. PLA has a transparent, rigid and thermal processing base that can be used to block film, cups, boxes and paper lymphine; short panels are concentrated in heat-resistant, resilient, partially blocked and stable process windows, often with crystallized management, mixing PBAT, PBS or structural design. Industrially compostableValues are formed under conditions that do not amount to any arbitrary PLA packaging disappearing rapidly in the home, soil or ocean.
02 / PHA · Polyhydroxyalkanoates
PHA is a family of materials rather than a single grade. Monomer composition affects properties ranging from highly crystalline and relatively rigid to more flexible. PHA extrusion coatings have biodegradation potential in different environments, but rates depend on composition, crystallinity, thickness, additives, temperature, humidity and microorganisms. BIOTEN PHA waterborne dispersed composite coatings form functional paper layers at low coat weights. The article describes bio-based, repulping and composting attributes, while dispersion stability, drying and film formation, heat sealing, barrier performance and compostability remain subject to application and target-market validation.
03 / PBS Polybutyltinate butyl diol
The advantage is that the process is balanced with flexibility, and carbon sources cannot be taken for granted. PBS can be produced through different feedstock pathways, not all of which are naturally biological. Mechanical, thermal and process properties make it suitable for film thins, coatings, and materials such as PLA that are co-resilient; but crystallization, formulation, barrier partition and degradation performance needs to be system-by-system confirmation.
04 / PEF polyfurans dimethylate
The main battlefield is closer to high barriers and cycles than composting. PEF is directed towards bottles, films and barriers, and studies show a significant potential for gas containment; however, resilience, scalability costs, sorting and recovery system compatibility still need to be advanced and current research does not support its direct classification as already clearhome compostableMaterials. Bio-based materialsThe same is true of the high performance plus recycling route.
05 / Aquatic acrylic acid and other dispersed coatings
Water is a carrier, not the end of materials. Water technologies can reduce reliance on organic solvents and expand paper use through low-painting, membrane and thermal design; acrylic acid/EAA is a heterogeneous range of resins and fish complexes that need to be identified as non-requiredfood contactThe Acid coatings, and the VOC content in liquid products, benzene and other heavy metals such as formaldehyde are easily overstretched, require enhanced third-party monitoring before the fluid is ready for use. Compostable, still have to check the combination identity, coating volume, residues, re-slurries, wastewater effects, food contactAnd target market determination.
The five-material passport does not have any natural superiority. A good design is not to write all the advantages on a label, but rather to recognize the trade-off and then make it a proven product.
Research sources: European Commission concept note; PLA review; PHA degradation review; BIOTEN PHA waterborne dispersed composite coated-paper research; PBS review; PEF overview; waterborne polymer paperboard-coating research
05.. PLASTICS BoUNDARY
Plastics do not automatically exit, and they must move from “performance advantage” to “cycle certification”.
Plastics have some non-alternative content in packaging. The film can be wet-resistant, resilient, hot envelopes and a certain barrier with lower weight; in sauce, liquids, frozen foods, meat, health care and long shelf life products, the cost of packing is often much higher than that of packaging material itself. It is easy to get wrong answers by looking at the name of the material without looking at leaks, broken bags and food losses.
Positive case AMCOR
Amcor's in. 2026 Disclosures of Liquiflex AmPrima, a large packaging scene with single materials, light soft packaging service sauce, soup, frozen vegetables and protein. It shows not “plastic back to the old route”, but rather high functional values by decomposition, weight reduction and single material design.
Evidence boundary: the company put "recyclableDesign is clearly limited to EU ropean markets where flexible polyethylene recycling streams have been established. Recyclability (a) As product attributes and as regional infrastructure attributes; recyclableNot equal to actual recovery.
Source: UNEP life cycle evaluation synthesis; Amcor corporate disclosure
06 SCENARIO MAP
Why is it still possible to grow paper and plastic packaging at the same time?
For packaging is not a fixed sum, single function zero market. Consumption patterns, channels, preservation needs, automated fillings, take-out, power suppliers, cold chains and circulation systems are changing, with different material growth likely to be from different scenarios, value layers and different regions.
Dry goods, overpacking of transport, gift boxes and retail displays The heavy lifting, printing, stacking and mature fibre recycling usually allows more room for tiles, cardboard, and plastic fibers. A continuous attack on a scene that can be stabilized by light paper structures is liable to the combined pressure of both reduction and recovery logic.
Wet, oily, high-blocking or high risk of leakage The plastic film, a single polymer structure or the necessary compounding options may still be more efficient when looking at wet-resistant, shutter, piercing and shelf periods.
Breading, fast food and short shelf racks It's in the intersection of paper and new materials. PHADispersed coatings and other biological bases orrecyclableDesign, all of which may compete; lastly, the amount of cloth, blockage, heat seals, wire speed, good ratefood contactand target area terminal path.
Closed loop transport and reuse of platinum The durable plastic boxes, pallets and so on have a systemic advantage only when return, cleaning, breakage and actual reuse are established; paper transport packaging may be superior to mature recovery pathways.
High-value, perishable or health-sensitive products Controls the loss of content before optimizing packaging.
Paper and plastics can grow at the same time, as growth occurs in different scenarios, functions and cycles.
07. WRONG BATTLES
It's not competition, it's no border substitution.
The paper company needs to avoid it most. A sample that is resistant to oil does not mean being able to withstand condensation, transport friction, prolonged wet resistance and high-speed heat sealing; a component test does not pass, nor does it amount to a complete package, whole machine, entire recovery path being closed. The more paper-based companies respect borders, the more they can concentrate resources on a real, affordable market.
The plastic industry needs to be avoided. The more active the reduction, single materialization, regenerative compatibility, and innovation of new polymers, the more likely they will be to hold high-capacity scenes that are really good at doing so.
The most important thing to avoid is new materials. The new material is changed from “material possibilities” to “packaging solutions” only if it enters a stable supply, processing window, customer line, product safety and target end path simultaneously.
International PPWR
EU Code on Packaging and Packing Waste12 August 2026 Packaging, generally applicable, covering all materials and sources with objectives including reduction of packaging and use of primary resources, improvementrecyclabilityand safely improve the use of recycled plastics in plastic packaging.
OthercompostableRequirement for specific categories and conditions, other organismsbiodegradablePackaging is still in principle designed for material recovery. PPWR is not a "paper pass" or "compostable (b) A " passable for materials "; different obligations have different points of application and the EU rules are not equivalent to China's legal obligations.
Source: European CommissionPPWR Official Note
08 • DECISION TOOL
"Technology Five Questions" for the industrial chain.
A replacement project will be evaluated in the future and five questions proposed instead of “paper or plastic”.
Asking what the cost of failure is. First list of leakage, breakage, tide exposure, oxidation, pollution, preservation period and stoppage risks.
Two questions. What's the whole bag used, how much? (B) Merge base materials, coatings, glues, labels, ink, seals and secondary packagings and write the identity of the material.
Three questions. Can it be made stable? Validation of coating, film, printing, formation, heat sealing, filling, transport and batch consistency.
Four questions: Where exactly did you go after the use? Check for true collection, selection, regeneration or suitability of disposal and economic values.
Five questions: Who will prove it better? (C) Clear methodology, boundaries, sample structure, range of certifications, year and area of application.
Paper and paper-based materials enterprises: Defines strength, intensity, cloth fit, low-g weight and fibre recovery performance together , do not seek to replace without borders.
Plastic resin and film industry: (B) The combination of light quantification, single materialization, regenerative compatibility, easy-to-selection and high functionality.
Biomaterials and functional coating enterprises: Carbon source, formula, coatings, membrane, heat seal, food contactThe economic and terminal routes are made as a complete material passport.
Packaging processing and equipment enterprises: Convert material performance into linear, good rates, seals, stable delivery and replicable process windows.
Brands, channels and recycling enterprises: Sharing of real use, wear and tear, collection and regeneration data so that material selection is no longer available in the conference room.
09 • The media BIOTEN VIEW
BIOTEN Packaging: no material station, for the scientific boundary
The Code of Eco-Environment is in effect. Fiber-based packagingIt's an opportunity, and it's a chance to create innovation with plastic packaging; for PLA, PHAThe joint expanded market for system innovation is the PBS, PEF, PBAT, water barrier materials, recycled materials, ink-coated glues, testing certification and recycling facilities.
BIOTEN PackagingThe scientific innovation that is maintained is not to select a material before looking for all the scenes; rather, it is to clarify the features, costs, regulations and end paths of the scene and then send a good material to a place where it is truly good at and can be built over time. This paper site will make it lighter, stronger, more recyclable, and with real degradation potential; this plastic will make the plastic less, more monolithic and more recycled; and where it suits biological materials, the material identity, economics, functional performance and suitability disposal will be tested together.
This restraint is not conservative, but a higher-quality attack. The upgrading of paper-based functional layers will drive traditional plastics to reprove their efficiency; the high performance benchmark for plastics will also push paper, coatings and biopolymeric materials to break down. Competition is not negative to each other, but it is by testing the criteria for jointly raising green packagings through technical pressure tests.
The end point for green packaging is not that one material wins, but rather that the material is located and its value continuously uplifts.
CONCLUSION
Stop the material attacks, start to draw their own scene boundary maps through a technical competition.
Neither “paper-making” nor “sculpture-based” can describe local market movements and cannot outline the overall direction of the packaging industry. The legal code has brought about a deeper change in the choice of materials from propaganda preferences to real systems: functions must be built, packaging must be moderate, manufacturing must be cleaner, circulation routes must be authentic, and environmental claims must be supported by evidence.
PE lymphinefiber-based packagingSignificant crosses from "paper" to "functional packaging" were completed; today's PLA, PHAThe second upgrade is not intended to replace a name on the material list, but also to rewrite functional layer usage, carbon sources, processing windows, recycling or fitting disposals and regulatory evidence and sustainability.
The most valuable action for businesses is to build their own landscape border maps and materials passports: which orders should be paper-based, which plastics should be used, which options are suitable for biological material, reuse or necessary compounding, and which should be abandoned. The clearer the boundaries, the more focused innovation, the easier it becomes for clients to believe that inputs are not too easy to waste.
Using scientific innovation and verifiable evidence, China ' s packaging industry chain moved from material concepts to defining application boundaries and delivering global programmes.
BIOTEN PackagingIndustry Insight Research Note
The text provides a framework for industrial research and material selection, which does not constitute legal opinions, certification findings or product-specific recommendations.
Assess material performance by layer: resin/formulation → coating or film → coated paper/composite structure → final packaging. Bio-based, biodegradable, compostable, recyclable, plastic-free, waterborne and food-contact claims are distinct and cannot replace one another. Laboratory research, company design targets and component tests must not be extrapolated to mass-production performance, whole-package certification or actual recycling/composting outcomes in the target region.
BIOTEN PackagingConcern and participationPHAWater-based barrier materials andfiber-based packagingApplied research. PHAThe route is thus presented using only the publicly researched material and process boundary, with specific formulations, performance, etc. food contact. The state of re-sulpting, composting and commercialization is left to independent testing and project level evidence and does not replace certification with brand positions.
BIOTEN Observation: data and sources of verification
1. The official text of the Environmental Code of the People ' s Republic of China, which is part of the Ministry of Eco-Environmental Environment
2. The issue of legislation in the Code on Eco-Environmental Law is a Chinese-language network.
3. Preparations for the implementation of the Code on Eco-Environment
4. PPWR Official Note by EU ropaan Commission
5. Regulation 2025/40EUR-Lex
6. Biobases, biodegradableandcompostablePlastics for EU ropaan Commission
7. Fiber-based packagingrecyclableDesign Guide — CEPI
8. Reciclability Test Method Version 3CEPI
9. Food packagingSynthesis of the life cycle evaluation
10. UPM withBASFFibre-based blocker package disclosureBASF
11. Liquiflex AmPrima Food Services Packing Amcor
12. Cup Pe coating and hot sealing |BioResources
13. PLA Structure, Performance and Degradation Overview
14. Water PLA paper coating study |press in Organic Coatings
15. PHAbiodegradationThe study is a synthesis of the research by PubMed
16. BIOTEN PHA dispersed composite paper barrier-coating research | Progress in Organic Coatings
17. PBS Summary of Performance and Degradation
18. PEF Summary of Performance, Recovery and Industrialization
19. Water polymer cardboard blockage and recycling study |Coatings
