A transparent film might seem ordinary at first glance, but once ignited, a magical scene unfolds: the film does not emit the black smoke and odor typical of conventional plastic films. Instead, it burns cleanly and, with a light touch of the finger, turns into ashes.

This is the new product developed by Hainan SINO Industry Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as SINO Industry)—the BOPLA film for cigarette packaging. Unlike traditional cigarette films, this film is not only thinner and stronger but also biodegradable.

“Our product is currently in the final testing stage and is expected to be in production by the end of this year or early next year,” said Xu Jia, Deputy General Manager of SINO Industry. This product represents a major breakthrough for the company in the field of biodegradable cigarette films nationwide.

On the afternoon of December 12, in SINO Industry’s laboratory, technicians were testing cigarette films produced using different materials and processes for thickness, gloss, heat-sealing strength, and coefficient of friction, aiming to find the new product that best meets market demands.

Xu Jia told the Hainan Daily that the current scale of the cigarette film industry is about 100,000 tons. Many tobacco companies have already started using biodegradable materials, which can also be expanded to other fields such as food packaging, daily necessities, and cosmetics, providing revolutionary technological support for the transformation and upgrading of the multi-billion-dollar flexible packaging industry.

As a specialized and innovative "Little Giant" enterprise, SINO Industry is actively integrating into the overall development of the Hainan Free Trade Port, taking on responsibilities, and tackling industry challenges.

“The equipment for cigarette films operates at a very fast pace. Although the film appears thin, it must meet strict requirements for tensile strength, haze, gloss, and other indicators. If these indicators are not met, the equipment cannot function properly,” Xu Jia said. Biodegradable plastic products, especially cigarette films, have the highest requirements.

High standards are one aspect; more importantly, the lack of suitable raw materials and machinery poses a challenge. Everything requires constant experimentation and exploration.

“Major suppliers of raw materials for biodegradable cigarette films are located outside the province or even abroad, and the equipment used downstream is also not available in Hainan. Conventional functional film equipment is imported from abroad,” Xu Jia admitted. Without existing production equipment for biodegradable cigarette films, custom equipment would take at least four years to develop.

Balancing the need to change physical properties while meeting existing machine performance standards is a challenge. Xu Jia mentioned that SINO Industry’s R&D team visited raw material suppliers and conducted thousands of experiments and data adjustments to find the right product.

However, difficulties arose during the small and pilot-scale testing phases: finding suitable equipment nationwide was time-consuming and costly. SINO Industry came up with a solution: creating a specialized platform that integrates testing, analysis, and pilot trials. This platform allows the company to introduce suitable equipment based on their experience, reducing the need for extensive searching and improving the R&D efficiency across the industry.

Currently, the development of biodegradable cigarette films is nearing completion, with potential to fully replace the industry’s 100,000-ton scale, and a market size reaching 4 billion yuan. The specialized platform, the National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Functional Film Technology, has also been established and is expected to be operational by early next year.

“Our next step is to increase investment in important projects and achieve industrialization progressively throughout 2024,” Xu Jia said, adding that the company will also expand into new fields and business areas to contribute “green” efforts to the Hainan Free Trade Port construction.

Hainan Daily Reporter Gu Cui

Hainan Daily, Haikou, December 13
《SN Industry Challenges Industry Difficulties, Achieves Breakthrough in Biodegradable Cigarette Film》