Ele.me and China Packaging Federation Release First Environmental Report on Takeout Packaging

On July 21, Ele.me officially released the "Takeaway and Takeout Food Packaging, 2021 Green Behavior Research Report" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"), jointly researched and compiled by Ele.me, the China Packaging Federation and the School of Environment of Tsinghua University. This is also the industry's first environmental report on takeaway packaging. Through sustainable packaging design guidelines and a scoring table, the "Report" provides takeaway merchants and consumers with a clear reference for their choices.

Ele.me has long been concerned with reducing plastic in takeaway packaging. On the 14th of this month, Ele.me and the China Packaging Federation jointly held the 2021 China Packaging Brand Innovation Summit and the Internet Platform Packaging Sustainable Development Forum, focusing on sustainable packaging on internet platforms and covering fields such as catering, express delivery and e-commerce. The conference invited internet platforms, catering brands, university institutions and packaging enterprises to jointly discuss green development and release environmental solutions and research results.

As one of the outcomes of the forum, the "Report" conducted extensive research from four perspectives, namely merchants, riders, consumers and industrial chain collaboration, systematically presenting issues of industry concern such as the current state of takeaway and takeout food packaging use, factors in merchants' choice of packaging, the effects of reduction and substitution measures, the current state of takeaway delivery, riders' awareness of recycling, and consumers' awareness of recycling.

The "Report" shows that, driven by both policy guidance and platform measures, source reduction of plastics on the merchant side has had notable effects, and the proportion of substitute materials and "no cutlery needed" orders has increased. It also points out that as the prevalence of degradable plastic bags rises markedly, the industry needs to improve their cost and functionality, and establish a separate recycling disposal mechanism.

The "Report" holds that inconsistencies in packaging material, color and specifications lead to high downstream sorting costs and low recycling rates, that it is necessary to standardize the green design of packaging, and that multiple entities in the industrial chain should strengthen communication and collaboration to jointly optimize the recycling system.

The "Report" also, by integrating feedback from practical implementation and combining international mainstream sustainable packaging concepts, released for the first time sustainable packaging design guidelines and a scoring table, pointing the way for manufacturers and merchants on how to optimize green packaging, and at the same time providing consumers with an intuitive guide for choosing green packaging.

——This article is reprinted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-378224.html