During the 2026 National Two Sessions, Zheng Yuming, a National People's Congress representative and the chairman of Lianhong New Materials Technology Co., Ltd., proposed to accelerate the promotion and application of fully biodegradable agricultural plastic films, in order to contribute to the green and high-quality development of agriculture.
Zheng Yueming stated that China adheres to the "trinity" protection principle of both quantity and quality as well as ecological balance for farmland, and implements the action for protecting and improving the quality of farmland. Agricultural land films play a significant role in conserving moisture and increasing temperature, suppressing weeds and preventing pests, and enhancing crop yields. Agricultural land films have covered over 270 million acres of farmland, with an annual usage of approximately 1.4 million tons.
Among them, traditional polyethylene film is difficult to recycle and degrade. As the usage of agricultural film increases, a large amount of residual film accumulates in the soil over a long period of time, damaging the soil structure, hindering the growth of crop roots, polluting the farmland ecosystem, affecting the yield and quality of agricultural products, and restricting the green and sustainable development of agriculture.
The fully biodegradable agricultural land film is mainly made of biodegradable materials such as PBAT, PLA, and PPC. In the natural environment, it can be decomposed by microorganisms into carbon dioxide and water, solving the problems of difficult recycling of residual films and pollution. It is beneficial for reducing soil compaction and nutrient loss, and improving the quality of farmland.
Zheng Yueming stated that the EU has continuously strengthened its control over plastic pollution in the past two years, promoting innovation and application of the fully biodegradable plastic industry. China has also successively introduced a number of policies to support the research and application of fully biodegradable agricultural plastic films. Although some initial progress has been made, the promotion of fully biodegradable plastic films still faces many challenges.
According to statistics from the industry association, as of 2025, the actual area of full biodegradable plastic film promoted nationwide was less than 3 million acres, far below the planned target of 30 million acres. Zheng Yueming believes that the main reasons include the relatively high cost of degradable plastic films, inadequate subsidies in some regions, which affects the enthusiasm of farmers to use them; the continuation policy after 2025 has not been clearly defined; insufficient coverage of large-scale demonstration areas, resulting in weak radiation and带动 effects； insufficient compatibility of technologies and products， making it difficult to meet the diverse environmental and planting needs； and incomplete standards and supervision， with counterfeit and inferior products disrupting the market.
Zheng Yueming put forward four suggestions on this matter:
First, the next phase of subsidy policies should be promptly introduced. Subsidies for fully biodegradable agricultural plastic films should be implemented differently based on regions and crop types. The subsidy standards should be reasonably increased, and the supervision of policy implementation should be strengthened.
Second, support more regions to carry out demonstrations of fully biodegradable agricultural plastic films, covering major crop varieties, and establish replicable and scalable models and technical standards;
Thirdly, we will increase support for the innovation of key technologies such as the development of degradable materials, modification of plastic films, and regulation of degradation cycles, in order to reduce the cost of fully biodegradable plastic films and improve their adaptability.
Fourth, improve regulatory services, establish a unified testing and certification system, and crack down on counterfeit products; strengthen agricultural technology promotion, and increase public awareness campaigns and technical guidance.
