Beijing Issues New Rules on Takeout Packaging

Buns in bags, soup noodles in sealed boxes, barbecue wrapped in aluminum foil... How can takeout packaging be both environmentally friendly and practical? Beijing has given a new answer. Recently, the Municipal Market Regulation Bureau released the local standard "Guidelines for the Use of Green Packaging by Food Delivery Merchants," which is scheduled to be officially implemented from September 1. This document, known in the industry as the takeout "slimming" standard, provides food delivery merchants with a clear operating manual, covering everything from packaging materials and usage specifications to classification methods.

What is "green packaging"? The Guidelines clarify that green packaging refers to packaging that, throughout the entire life cycle of the packaging product and on the premise of meeting packaging functional requirements, causes little harm to human health and the ecological environment and consumes few resources and energy. Food delivery merchants must use green packaging that meets national food hygiene and safety requirements.

The Guidelines set out a number of reduction requirements: it is advisable to use takeout packaging seals or outer packaging bags that are single-use sealed and cannot be restored after opening, which both prevents tampering and reduces secondary packaging; packaging of different sizes should be reasonably selected according to the type of food to minimize the packaging void ratio; packaging printing should follow the principle of simplification to reduce printing area; functional redundancy should be avoided—for example, non-woven outer packaging bags should be selected according to season and temperature, and should not be used when there is no need for heat preservation.

In addition, the Guidelines propose that food delivery merchants should not proactively provide single-use tableware, and encourage merchants to guide consumers to reuse takeout packaging in ways that do not contact food.

The Guidelines divide takeout packaging into two major categories—simple packaging and sealed packaging—and give detailed recommendations based on the characteristics of the food: Simple packaging (for dishes with no or very little soup and fully wrapped dishes), for example, dishes with no soup on the surface and an independent, complete shape (such as buns and flatbreads) should preferably use bag packaging; hamburgers, sandwiches, hot dogs, etc. should preferably reduce the number of packaging layers; pizza, cakes, etc. that need to be protected from deformation and sticking should preferably use paper food boxes; barbecue dishes should preferably be wrapped directly in aluminum foil, paired with a packaging bag that serves as a seal; high-temperature, high-oil dishes without soup (such as fried cakes and fried light meals) should preferably use biodegradable material packaging; special dishes such as dumplings and sushi may use compartmentalized packaging.

Sealed packaging (for dishes with more soup that do not leak during use) is divided into three categories: room-temperature/low-temperature types, such as ice jelly, fruit bowls, and malaban, should not use plastic cling film sealing unless necessary; high-temperature types, such as soup noodles, wontons, mao xue wang, boiled fish, malatang, and maocai, should preferably use packaging with a specific sealing structure design, and a small amount of narrow-edge sealing film may be used when necessary; ice products, such as desserts containing slush, should preferably be paired with ice packs and use insulated bag packaging, and should not use plastic cling film sealing.

Beverage packaging should preferably select suitable materials according to the beverage temperature, and sealing should preferably use sealing paper that is easy to physically separate, reducing the use of straws.