Our country has developed an ultra-thin, fully biodegradable permeable plastic film

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Recently, a research team composed of Researcher Li Ruizhen from Shanxi Agricultural University, who serves as the head of the **Ministry of Science and Technology’s Special Task Force on Drip Irrigation Membranes for Dryland Agriculture**, along with Researcher Yao Jianmin as the lead expert, and researchers from the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has successfully developed an ultra-thin fully biodegradable drip irrigation membrane with a weather resistance period of around 120 days. Its mechanical properties far exceed those required by national standards, and its thickness is only 0.006 millimeters. Fully biodegradable plastic film represents the approach to eliminating surface-source white pollution through the development of improved polyethylene PE films; it is a type of fully biodegradable plastic film manufactured using branched polycarbonate (PPC) synthesized from carbon dioxide, biodegradable resins (PBAT) synthesized from petroleum, and polylactic acid resins (PLA) synthesized from biomass as raw materials. Due to the higher density of fully biodegradable resins, at 1.26 g/m3, which is 37% higher than that of PE materials at 0.92 g/m3, the spreading area of plastic films of the same thickness is reduced by 20.63%. Additionally, from a manufacturing perspective, it is only possible to produce fully biodegradable plastic films with a thickness of around 0.01 mm in order to meet the requirement of a weather resistance period of about 90 days; this results in high costs per unit area, with a consumption of around 6.5 kilograms per mu and an investment of around 160 yuan per mu. Despite the fact that some ** and regions at home and abroad have issued plastic bans, it is extremely difficult to produce and promote such products. The research team undertook and completed projects under the **Key R&D Programs** for the 13th and 14th Five-Year Plans, as well as projects under Shanxi Province’s Key R&D Program. They utilized the carbon dioxide-based branched polycarbonapropylate PPC and polycarbonate PCU recently developed by the Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, as well as the highly resistant photolysis-resistant water-permeable additive developed by Shanxi Weitong Water-Permeable Membrane Biotechnology Co., Ltd.; together with biodegradable resins such as PBAT and PLA, they created an ultra-thin, fully biodegradable water-permeable plastic film. With the thickness reduced by 40%, the investment cost per mu also decreased by 40%, falling to around 90 yuan per mu. This is the same as the investment cost per mu for 0.015mm thick high-strength PE plastic film. Moreover, such film decomposes completely after autumn, eliminating the need for investment in film recycling. It also enhances water infiltration, allowing for more efficient use of rainwater resources and preventing premature aging of crops due to the use of thicker plastic films. It results in higher yields, achieving a harmonious balance between cost reduction, efficiency improvement, and environmental protection, which makes fully biodegradable plastic film suitable for widespread use. The research papers were published in academic journals such as China Plastics in 2025, Acta Scientiae Agricole Sinica in 2023 and 2024, Shanxi Agricultural Sciences in 2025, Acta Microbiologica Sinica in 2025, and Bio-based and Degradable Materials in 2025. Achievements such as \"A processing technique for degrading plastic films used for covering farmland and its applications,\" \"A rapid testing method for degradable plastic films,\" \"A mechanical method for applying multiple layers of biodegradable plastic films in micro-grooves behind crop rows on farmland,\" and \"A production process and application of photolysis-resistant masterbatches for ultra-thin, fully biodegradable PPC-based plastic films,\" which were jointly developed by Shanxi Agricultural University and Shanxi Weitong Permeable Film Biotechnology Co., Ltd., have obtained multiple **patents; corresponding cultivation techniques have also been developed. On the **Enterprise Standard Information Public Service Platform, the team also released the enterprise standard titled ‘Fully Biodegradable (Permeable) Agricultural Land Cover Film’. At present, this achievement has been successfully promoted on a large scale in Shanxi Province, Shaanxi Province, Inner Mongolia, and other areas.