Manufacturers of straws, cutlery and disposable tableware have all noticed a highly unusual market trend in the second half of 2026: PLA raw material prices keep surging and spot supply remains tight, yet orders for degradable catering products continue to grow.
Many factories that previously produced PP plastic straws and tableware are rushing to transition to the degradable track. However, they generally face the same challenges: stricter inspections under new regulations, higher compliance thresholds, low yield rates with pure PLA production, and sharply rising raw material costs that have severely squeezed profits, making the transition an uphill struggle.
I. Core Driver: Plastic Ban Enshrined in Law, PP Products Face Complete Phase-Out
The fundamental cause of this industry-wide transformation is the official implementation of the *Eco-Environment Code* on August 15, 2026. With this, the plastic ban is no longer a soft policy but a national law, covering the entire chain of production, distribution and end-use.
The new regulation explicitly bans the production, sale and use of traditional non-degradable PP straws, plastic cutlery and disposable foamed food containers in catering establishments and takeaway scenarios.
Penalties are clearly defined: production and sale of prohibited plastic products will result in confiscation of goods plus a fine of 1 to 3 times the value of the goods, and business qualifications may be revoked in serious cases. For merchants using prohibited products, enterprises face fines of up to 100,000 yuan, and individual operators are also subject to penalties. Under such policy pressure, PP catering plastic products have largely exited the market, forcing all manufacturers to shift to PLA degradable materials and triggering an explosion in rigid market demand.
II. Two Key Reasons for Sustained PLA Price Hikes: Rising Costs + Capacity Diversion
Many business owners wonder: demand is booming, so why are raw materials still getting more expensive and harder to source? The answer lies in two overlapping factors, not just simple supply and demand.
1. Sustained rise in upstream raw material costs
The core raw materials for PLA production are corn starch, lactic acid and lactide. Lactic acid purification relies heavily on chemical inputs such as sulfur and sulfuric acid. Driven by international market trends, prices of these raw materials have remained high for a long time, transmitting down the supply chain and directly pushing up PLA finished product prices. Coupled with rising energy and logistics costs, major domestic PLA manufacturers have raised their quotations multiple times this year, and food-grade raw material costs continue to climb.
2. 3D printing sector absorbs large PLA production capacity
This is a core issue overlooked by many product manufacturers: the 3D printing industry remained booming in 2026, and PLA filaments for 3D printing deliver higher profits and added value.
As a result, leading domestic PLA resin producers have adjusted their capacity structure, allocating premium capacity and priority production slots to the 3D printing market. The general-grade PLA capacity originally dedicated to catering straws and cutlery has been significantly squeezed, leading to spot supply shortages and longer lead times.
The final industry status quo: demand for catering degradable products has surged, while raw material supply has shrunk, making price hikes and shortages the new normal.
III. Common Pitfalls in Factory Transformation: Material Switch Without Modification Often Leads to Losses
Many PP factories take a simplistic approach to transformation: simply replacing PP with pure PLA raw materials while continuing to use old production processes. But actual production reveals mounting problems – not only eroding profits but also exposing businesses to compliance risks.
1. Pure PLA has inherent production defects: low yield and high waste
Pure PLA has notable performance drawbacks: it is inherently brittle, leading to tube breakage and cut cracking during high-speed straw production, as well as high breakage rates during transportation and storage. Its poor heat resistance causes softening and deformation in hot drink straws and hot food tableware, resulting in high customer return rates. Meanwhile, pure PLA production is extremely process-sensitive – slight deviations in drying or temperature parameters cause yellowing and crystal spots. With raw materials at current high prices, high defect rates eat into all factory profits.
2. High risk of fake degradability, with direct penalties for failed inspections
Since the new regulation took effect, market random inspections have intensified. Many low-priced materials on the market appear to contain PLA but are actually mixed with non-degradable components such as PP and PE – typical fake degradable products that fail the GB/T 41010-2022 national standard test. If caught, manufacturers face goods confiscation and financial penalties, with all risks falling on the production factory.
IV. New Industry Trend: Era of Raw Material Price Competition Ends, Era of Formulation Technology Begins
The degradable materials industry has undergone a complete reshuffle. The extensive production model that relies solely on raw material substitution is no longer viable. For manufacturers to stabilize quality, control costs and avoid risks, the core lies in scenario-specific modified formulations, stable compliance qualifications and refined production processes.
While there are many manufacturers producing general bio-based degradable materials, few specialize in modification specifically for catering straws and cutlery. Hesumei Technology has been deeply engaged in the bio-based degradable materials industry for many years, offering a wide range of product grades to meet customers' diverse material and process requirements.
V. Our Solution: Catering-Focused PLA Modification, Adapted for Factory Production
Linyi Shengtu Information Technology Co., Ltd. is a professional leading manufacturer of PLA modification. We do not produce general-purpose chemical materials, but focus exclusively on the catering degradable materials segment. We develop custom modified formulations for straws and cutlery, precisely solving production, quality and compliance challenges for factories.
1. Special modified materials for degradable straws
Adopting scientific blend modification of PLA and PBAT, we address the key pain points of pure PLA: brittleness, easy breakage and poor heat resistance. Our cold-drink special grade enables smooth extrusion, no crystal spots and high yield rates, compatible with high-speed production lines. Our heat-resistant grade effectively solves softening and deformation issues of hot drink straws, fully covering the production needs of all beverage straws on the market.
2. Special modified materials for cutlery injection molding
Formulated specifically for injection molding processes, our materials balance hardness and toughness. Finished products demold smoothly, resist warpage and cracking, and feature uniform molding – ideal for large-scale standardized production. This significantly reduces defect waste, helping factories save raw materials and improve efficiency.
3. 100% compliant true degradability, eliminating inspection risks
All our modified products are free of PP, PE and any non-degradable components, fully complying with the requirements of the Eco-Environment Code and national standard testing. We provide a full set of formal inspection and qualification reports, ensuring customers' finished products pass inspections smoothly and allow them to take orders with peace of mind.
4. Formulation optimization for cost reduction, technical support for efficiency improvement
Amid continuous raw material price increases, we optimize formulation technology to balance performance and cost, helping factories hedge against raw material price inflation. We also have a professional technical team providing one-on-one on-site guidance, offering full-process support from raw material drying, equipment parameter adjustment to production troubleshooting, to increase yield rates and stabilize factory profits.
VI. Conclusion: Industry Reshuffle – Only Specialized Players Achieve Stable Profits
2026 is a year of compliance reshuffle for the degradable industry. Low-price, low-quality and fake degradable products will be gradually phased out of the market. The future of the degradable catering products industry will no longer compete on raw material prices, but on compliance, quality and on-site production capability.
Choosing the right special modified materials allows manufacturers to avoid policy risks, solve production pain points, control production costs and seize market dividends. At Shengtu Technology, we focus on catering degradable material modification, continuously providing stable, compliant and cost-effective material solutions for product manufacturers.