Development Trends of Plastic Formwork in China

Plastic formwork is a new generation of green building material that has emerged alongside the development of China’s plastics industry. It features high reuse cycles, 100% recyclability and reusability, lightweight construction, and easy moldability, making it highly aligned with national policies on environmental protection and the circular economy. According to estimates, if one-third of wood–bamboo plywood formwork used in construction were replaced by plastic formwork, annual consumption of such plywood formwork could be reduced by 100 million square meters, substituting 2.5 million cubic meters of high-quality timber—equivalent to preventing the logging of 43,000 hectares of forest and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 7.6 million tons, thereby delivering significant low-carbon and environmentally friendly benefits.

With the official implementation of the Green Building Action Plan, plastic formwork has emerged as the fourth-generation concrete formwork—following wood formwork, bamboo plywood formwork, and steel formwork—amid the rapid trend toward diversification and lightweight design in the construction formwork industry. Owing to its green building-material attributes of being environmentally friendly, safe, and recyclable, plastic formwork has swiftly garnered significant attention and favor from numerous construction firms and formwork-rental companies. Plastic formwork products mainly include steel (or aluminum)-framed plastic formwork, large-engineering-plastic formwork, GMT construction formwork, hollow plastic formwork, plastic form shells, decorative formwork (lining forms), and modular plastic formwork, which can be widely used in the construction of walls, floor slabs, columns, and other structural elements. In addition, there are specially shaped plastic formworks that can be fabricated into various geometries and surface patterns, offering a rich variety of finishes and diverse designs; the concrete produced after formwork placement exhibits distinctive shapes and unique surface textures. With the rapid development of China’s construction industry, the role of construction formwork in engineering projects has become increasingly prominent. Currently, plastic formwork has been widely adopted in construction projects across multiple regions, including South China, North China, East China, Central China, and Northwest China, receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback.

Previously, the main plastic formwork products used in China included standardized modular reinforced plastic formwork and high-strength PP formwork. With ongoing innovation and continuous development in formwork technology, the variety of domestic plastic formwork products has gradually diversified, such as fiber-reinforced plastic formwork, hollow ribbed plastic formwork, and sandwich-structured foamed plastic formwork. EPS Insulation board , such as large-formwork made of engineering plastics, steel-frame plastic formwork, and wood-plastic composite formwork.

Performance Advantages and Characteristics of Plastic Formwork

The quality of formwork and the speed of its installation (and dismantling) directly affect construction quality and schedule. Table 1 compares the performance indicators of several types of construction formwork.

Wood and bamboo formwork has a relatively low number of reuse cycles: plain-faced plywood and bamboo plywood forms are typically used only 3 to 5 times, resulting in low resource utilization, significant waste, and difficulty in recycling and reusing discarded formwork. The accumulation of large quantities of such formwork can also adversely affect construction management and project schedules. Steel formwork, on the other hand, can be reused more frequently; however, it is much heavier—6 to 8 times the weight of plastic formwork—making it more challenging to handle during construction. Moreover, once deformed, steel formwork requires costly maintenance and repair, which can slow down project progress, extend the construction period, and increase overall construction costs.

Plastic formwork is a new, green construction material of the 21st century, boasting excellent overall performance and the following advantages:

Plastic formwork boasts high strength, excellent impact resistance and toughness, and can be nailed, sawed, and drilled; it also features tight joints.

Lightweight. Requires less labor for installation and dismantling, accelerates construction progress, and reduces formwork costs;

The surface is smooth and polished. No release agent is required, surface cleaning is easy, and the concrete surface quality can achieve a fair-faced concrete finish.

High turnover rate. Plastic formwork can be reused more than 50 times, and when used in combination with steel (or aluminum) frames, it can be reused over a hundred times, resulting in low per-use costs—approximately 50% lower than those of bamboo-wood plywood formwork.

Environmentally friendly and pollution-free. After use, the formwork can be 100% recycled and reprocessed into finished formwork products of the same quality as the original, thereby saving energy and protecting the environment.

Development Prospects and Outlook for Plastic Formwork

With the ongoing promotion of green building initiatives nationwide and the increasingly stringent environmental regulations, the widespread adoption of green building materials such as plastic formwork in the construction sector has become an inevitable trend. Replacing wood with plastic not only aligns with the national drive to strengthen ecological civilization but also promotes efficient resource utilization, energy conservation, and reduced consumption, thereby advancing green and sustainable development.