On August 15th, the new round of global negotiations on plastic pollution governance concluded. Although the conference closed one day later than originally scheduled, all parties still failed to reach a consensus on key issues. It is reported that this UN negotiation was supposed to be the final round of consultations, with the core goal of formulating the first legally binding international governance agreement targeting plastic pollution (including marine plastic pollution). Regrettably, the outcome of this negotiation was identical to that of the conference held in South Korea last year, ultimately failing to achieve substantial results.
From the perspective of industry development, silicone materials have demonstrated significant potential as an alternative. Currently, they have been widely used to replace plastic products in scenarios such as medical devices and food packaging. However, to promote the comprehensive replacement of plastic by silicone, three core challenges still need to be overcome: First, there is an obvious disadvantage in terms of cost. The price of silicone raw materials is 30%-50% higher than that of ordinary plastics, and this price gap makes it difficult for silicone to be popularized in price-sensitive fields such as daily necessities. Second, the limitation of high-temperature resistance performance prevents silicone from completely replacing engineering plastics in fields with high heat resistance requirements, such as electronic and electrical appliances. Third, the silicone recycling system is not yet perfect, and the technology required for large-scale recycling and utilization still needs further research and development breakthroughs. These factors interact with each other, jointly forming the dual technical and economic barriers that need to be overcome in the process of comprehensive replacement of plastic by silicone.