In the era of "dual carbon", the green transformation of knife-type elastic pads and the path towards industry sustainable development

In the current era of comprehensive deepening of the dual-carbon strategy, green printing and sustainable packaging have become the core trends in the development of the printing and packaging industry. From the tightened environmental protection regulations at the national level, to the zero-carbon packaging requirements of brands, to the green trade barriers in export markets, the entire industrial chain is accelerating its transformation towards greening, low-carbonization, and compliance. And the knife plate spring pad, as the core supporting consumable in the die-cutting process, its environmental performance and low-carbon attributes are no longer just bonuses but have become the market entry threshold for printing enterprises, and are also the key core that determines whether enterprises can undertake high-end orders and break through green trade barriers. In the era of dual-carbon, the green transformation of the knife plate spring pad industry is imperative. A full-chain green revolution centered around materials, processes, and applications is unfolding comprehensively.

For a long time, the development focus of the knife plate spring pad industry has been on performance indicators such as rebound, wear resistance, and precision. The environmental and low-carbon issues have long been ignored by the industry, and many industry pain points and compliance risks have accumulated. In terms of materials, most traditional knife plate spring pads in the industry use thermosetting polyurethane formulations. Once formed, this material cannot be melted and recycled, and can only be incinerated or landfilled after reaching the service life, which not only generates a large amount of carbon dioxide and harmful gases but also causes serious resource waste. According to industry estimates, China discards over 100,000 tons of knife plate spring pads annually, of which more than 90% cannot be recycled, causing huge pressure on the environment. At the same time, a large number of low-price spring pads are produced using recycled materials and inferior recycled rubber, with harmful additives such as heavy metals and phthalates added, and VOC emissions are severely超标. Not only will this pollute the printed products， but it will also pose a hazard to the health of operators in the production workshop， and is unable to meet the compliance requirements for food， medicine packaging.

At the production end， some small-scale manufacturers adopt a loose intermittent foaming process， with high energy consumption in the production process and non-compliant emissions of waste gas and wastewater， which does not meet the requirements of green factories and is facing increasingly strict environmental supervision pressure. At the application end， traditional spring pads have short service lives and frequent replacements， not only increasing the overall consumption of consumables but also generating more solid waste； at the same time， most products do not have complete environmental testing reports or food contact material certifications， unable to meet the zero-carbon packaging requirements of brand owners， and unable to adapt to international environmental protection standards such as EU REACH and US FDA， becoming the core weakness for enterprises to undertake high-end orders and expand export markets.

These ignored environmental compliance issues are causing increasing operational risks for printing and packaging enterprises. For packaging orders for food， medicine， and baby products， the national mandatory requirement is that all consumables in the packaging production process must comply with food contact material safety standards. If non-compliant knife plate spring pads are used， problems such as debris falling off and harmful substances leaching will occur， leading to不合格 results in product inspections， and enterprises will not only face huge fines but also be suspended from production qualifications， and even bear legal responsibilities. For export orders， if the spring pads do not comply with EU REACH， RoHS， etc. environmental regulations， the entire batch of goods will be returned or detained， causing huge economic losses to enterprises. Under the dual-carbon goal， more and more leading brand owners require suppliers to provide carbon footprint reports for the entire life cycle of products. Using non-recyclable and high-carbon-emission spring pads will cause enterprises to fail to meet the low-carbon requirements of brand owners and lose the qualification for high-end order cooperation.

Facing increasingly strict environmental requirements and market trends， the green transformation of the knife plate spring pad industry is irreversible. Domestic leading enterprises have taken the lead in action， from four dimensions of formulation， production， application， and compliance， building a complete green upgrade path， guiding the industry's development. In the upgrade of the environmental protection of the formulation system, the core is to achieve the dual goals of "safety compliance + recyclability". For scenarios with high compliance requirements such as food and medicine packaging, leading enterprises have developed food-grade environmentally friendly formulations, using high-purity new raw materials, without heavy metals, plasticizers, aromatic amines, low VOC, and the products have passed GB 4806 food contact material safety certification, US FDA certification, and EU food contact material standard testing. They can be directly applied to packaging die-cutting in sensitive fields such as food, medicine, and mother and baby, completely eliminating compliance risks. In response to the recyclability requirements of the dual-carbon era, the enterprise has broken through the technical limitations of traditional thermosetting polyurethane and developed recyclable thermoplastic polyurethane cushions. After the product reaches its service life, it can be recycled, ground, and remolded for reuse, and the performance retention rate of the recycled and regenerated materials can reach over 80%, achieving closed-loop recycling of resources and significantly reducing solid waste emissions and the carbon footprint throughout the product's life cycle.

In the green-upgrade of the production process, the core is to achieve "low energy consumption + low emissions" for clean production.