Green Express Packaging "Slimming" Requires Joint Efforts from Multiple Parties

With production and supply on one end and consumer demand on the other, the express delivery industry is called a "barometer" of economic development and consumer vitality. While the express delivery industry thrives, "green" packaging has become a future development trend. Lightweight packaging, recyclable express boxes, digital operation management... As the concept of green environmental protection takes root in people's hearts, more and more related enterprises are helping express packaging "slim down and reduce its burden". (People's Daily Overseas Edition, March 7)

With the rapid development of e-commerce, the express delivery industry has advanced by leaps and bounds. During this year's Spring Festival travel rush alone, the country collected a total of 10.367 billion mail and express items, with an average daily business volume of 259 million items, up 6.14% from the same period in 2022 and up 159% from the same period in 2019. While the rapid development of the express delivery industry brings convenience to people's production and life, it also generates a large amount of packaging waste, and the resulting resource waste and environmental problems have attracted widespread attention and concern from all parties.

Following the release of 291 national standards including "Express Packaging Supplies" by relevant national departments, in December 2020, eight departments including the National Development and Reform Commission and the State Post Bureau jointly issued the "Opinions on Accelerating the Green Transformation of Express Packaging", proposing to "promote the application of recyclable express packaging" and setting a clear target of 10 million recyclable express packages in use by 2025. The "Measures for the Administration of Mail and Express Packaging", which took effect on March 12, 2021, proposed to "encourage mailing and delivery enterprises to establish information systems for recyclable packaging materials" and "expand the scope of application of recyclable packaging materials".

Last year, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments also issued the "Implementation Plan for Promoting Green Consumption", proposing to actively promote green express packaging, guide e-commerce enterprises and express delivery enterprises to give priority to purchasing and using express packaging products that have obtained green certification, and promote the green transformation of express packaging. But judging from the actual situation in the past two years, there has been some improvement, yet the results are still far from satisfactory. As Ms. Xie from Haidian District, Beijing, said, over-packaged express deliveries are quite common at present, especially when buying higher-value goods, where packaging is often wrapped tightly "layer after layer" and this phenomenon is still commonplace.

The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out: "Advocate green consumption and promote the formation of green and low-carbon production methods and lifestyles." The author believes that to achieve the goal of both "slimming down" and being eco-friendly for express packaging, efforts from multiple parties are still needed. That is, senders should practice the concepts of greening, reduction and recyclability together with express delivery enterprises, support express packaging in "slimming down" while introducing relevant incentive policies to advance green recycling and reuse, so as to make the best use of materials and truly make eco-friendly packaging "circulate", which can achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Small express deliveries serve big livelihoods. The postal and express delivery industry is an important part of ecological civilization construction, and express packaging governance is also an inevitable requirement of high-quality development. It is expected that relevant departments will strengthen supervision in accordance with the law, regularly conduct spot checks on products produced by express packaging supplies manufacturers, randomly test express items using relevant equipment, and punish express companies that use substandard express packaging supplies, forcing express companies to use compliant express packaging supplies and do a good job in recycling and reuse.

At the same time, in addition to implementing supervision systems, all localities should also find ways to provide appropriate subsidies to the enterprises producing these packaging materials and to express delivery enterprises, impose maximum price limits on these materials, and launch tax adjustments to force non-green packaging materials out of the market. In addition, it is also hoped that the general public will take the initiative to use second-hand recycled packaging boxes when sending express items, reducing the waste of packaging materials. It is also hoped that users can casually throw packaging materials into recycling bins after unpacking express items at network points, and when users pick up or send express items next time, everyone is encouraged to use used packaging materials. Only through such circular use can the total consumption of the whole society be reduced, helping to achieve the "dual carbon goals" on schedule and advancing the process of building a Beautiful China.

On the new journey of the new era, only by fully, accurately and comprehensively implementing the new development philosophy and accelerating the construction of a new development pattern can we promote high-quality development. The reduction and greening of express packaging is the general trend and is imperative. At the same time, green governance of express packaging is also a systematic project involving all links such as packaging production, use and recycling, and is closely related to the entire chain including merchants, express delivery enterprises and consumers. It is expected that the whole society will act actively, starting from ourselves and starting now, to truly make express packaging "slimmer" and "greener", achieve a win-win of convenient life and low-carbon environmental protection, and contribute our own strength to a better tomorrow and a Beautiful China.

——This article is reprinted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-379386.html