The State Council Information Office recently released the white paper "China's Green Development in the New Era". In the part of improving the green level of the service industry, the white paper proposes to upgrade and improve the green packaging standard system of express delivery, promote the reduction, standardization and recycling of express packaging, guide manufacturers and consumers to use recyclable express packaging and degradable packaging, and promote the green development of e-commerce enterprises.
In order to control the excessive waste and environmental protection of express packaging, and promote the greening of express packaging, China's Provisional Regulations on Express clearly stipulates that the state encourages enterprises and senders operating express business to use biodegradable and reusable environmental packaging materials, and encourages enterprises operating express business to take measures to recycle express packaging materials, so as to realize the reduction and reuse of packaging materials. The State Postal Administration, the General Administration of Market Supervision and other departments have issued several management systems and industry specifications, such as the Green Packaging Specifications for Express Mail, the Guiding Opinions on Strengthening the Standardization of Green Packaging for Express Delivery, the Certification Catalog of Green Products for Express Packaging, and the Certification Rules for Green Products for Express Packaging. China's laws and regulations on the greening of express packaging have entered the fast lane.
Years of efforts have yielded certain results. According to the data of the National Postal Administration, by September 2022, the proportion of packaging materials that meet the standards and standardized packaging operations purchased and used by the national express industry has reached 90%, with a total of 9.78 million recyclable express boxes (boxes), 122000 recycling devices and 640 million recycled corrugated boxes in the postal express business outlets. Nevertheless, there is still a big gap between the reality of green express packaging in China and the relevant requirements, and problems such as excessive packaging and packaging waste still exist. Relevant data show that in 2022, China's express business volume completed 110.58 billion pieces, ranking first in the world for eight consecutive years. The express industry consumes more than 10 million tons of paper waste and about 2 million tons of plastic waste each year, with an annual growth trend.
It is impossible to control the excessive packaging and packaging waste of express delivery in one move, and there is a long way to go to promote the green packaging of express delivery. The white paper proposes "promoting the reduction, standardization and recycling of express packaging", which is the focus of our country's green express packaging. Decreasing is to reduce the weight of express packaging and materials; Recycling is to increase the use frequency of the same package, which is also a reduction in essence. At present, many express logistics enterprises are doing the work of reduction and recycling, for example, Shunfeng Express uses gourd bubble film instead of conventional bubble film, and JD Logistics promotes the use of "green flow box". How much reduction of express packaging can be considered green, what kind of materials should be used for recyclable packaging boxes, and how many times it needs to be reused to be qualified... These questions need to be answered by standards. It can be seen that standardization is the key in the process of realizing the greening of express packaging.
In fact, at present, some express enterprises are hesitant and shy in using green packaging. On the one hand, they are worried about increasing costs and lack enthusiasm based on their profit-seeking nature. On the other hand, the current standard system is not perfect, and the relevant standards are recommended standards, which is difficult to form rigid constraints on enterprises. In December 2020, the General Office of the State Council issued the Opinions on Accelerating the Green Transformation of Express Packaging, which emphasized that it was necessary to formulate and implement mandatory national standards for the harmless treatment of express packaging materials, and comprehensively establish a unified, standardized and binding green packaging standard system for express delivery. This further highlights the importance of standards for the greening of express packaging.
Relevant government departments should play a leading role in promoting the greening of express packaging through standardization. We should strengthen the top-level design of the standardization work, establish a joint working group on the standardization of express green packaging, and uniformly guide the formulation of express packaging standards. Develop a standard system framework covering all categories of products, evaluation, management and safety as well as all links of design, production, sales, use, recycling and recycling. On this basis, upgrade and improve the green standard of express packaging. For example, we should speed up the formulation of mandatory national standards for the innocuity of express packaging materials; Establish and improve standards in key fields such as recyclable express packaging, product and express integrated packaging, qualified packaging procurement management, green packaging certification, etc; Research and develop the identification standards for degradable materials and packaging products, further improve the degradable express packaging standards, and accelerate the implementation of green product certification and degradable packaging product identification system for express packaging.
With standards, we should implement them again. This requires relevant departments to strengthen supervision in accordance with laws and regulations, while the majority of enterprises should strengthen self-discipline and strictly follow the requirements of laws and regulations. Only when it is seen in practice and action can the greening of express packaging really achieve results.
