"Double Eleven" and "Double Twelve" ended with a bang, and the knocks on the door came from the courier. In addition to getting the desired goods at the door, the courier packaging that came with it filled half of the balcony. These packaging materials are the enemy of the environment and caused huge pollution. With the development of e-commerce, while people enjoy the convenience of buying goods without leaving home, the pollution problem caused by express packaging is becoming increasingly prominent.

Phenomenon: 9.92 billion packaging boxes are used in a year

In 2015, the amount of tapes, plastic bags, packaging boxes, etc. used in the express packaging industry in China was astonishing. The "Report on the Current Status and Trends of Green Packaging Development in China's Express Delivery Sector" shows that in 2015, among the more than 4 million tons of packaging waste, about 3.1 billion woven bags, about 8.268 billion plastic bags, about 3.105 billion envelopes, about 9.922 billion packaging boxes, about 16.985 billion meters of tapes, and about 2.977 billion internal buffers were consumed. The total length of the tape alone can circle the earth's equator 425 times, and during the production process, these tapes will produce 2,800 kilograms of gas solvent VOCs (incineration will form haze-like substances). If they are landfilled, it will take 100-150 years to achieve natural degradation. It is predicted that in the first three quarters of this year, a total of 21.1 billion pieces of express delivery have been completed, and it is expected to exceed 30 billion pieces by the end of the year, and will reach 50 billion by 2018.

Survey: 80% of people throw away the packaging directly

So many express packaging boxes are used in a year, so how are these packaging handled in reality? A reporter conducted a random interview.

"This kind of thing is not collected by waste recycling, so basically it will go into the trash." The interviewee said that it is understandable to be afraid of bumping the items, but the practice of wrapping the carton packaging with layers of plastic packaging bags and several layers of transparent tape is completely unnecessary.

Because it is troublesome, citizens generally do not call waste recycling personnel to their homes after unpacking and reporting. The packaging boxes are directly stacked next to the trash cans in the corridor, and some property cleaners will take them away.

The reporter randomly surveyed 20 citizens, of which 80% said that the express packaging they received was thrown away directly, and most people said that if it was plastic packaging, it was thrown into the trash can.

Experts: Express waste wastes resources and affects the environment

Experts pointed out that tens of billions of express deliveries are facing problems such as excessive packaging, secondary packaging, the use of environmentally unfriendly and inferior packaging materials, and the difficulty of packaging recycling and reuse, making the express delivery industry a major polluter.

First, the recycling rate of cartons in express packaging is not high. It is estimated that 1 ton of waste paper can produce 0.8 tons of recycled paper after recycling. Even if the cartons can be recycled 100%, there is still a gap of 0.2 tons, which needs to be solved by cutting down trees. In the production process, coal, electricity and other energy will be consumed, causing new pollution to water and air. In the end, even if all cartons are recycled, the actual recycling rate is only 70%.

Second, a large number of plastic bags, tapes, foam fillers, etc., due to the low recycling price, few people are willing to recycle. In daily life, many people do not have the habit of removing the tape on the outside of the packaging, and some are mixed with various types of garbage. Sorting at the waste station consumes a lot of manpower and increases costs. The final destination is likely not to be reused, but to be sent to the garbage treatment plant for direct landfill or incineration, causing pollution to the soil, air, etc.

Third, some outer packaging has excessive toxic and hazardous substances. Some media reported that in order to reduce costs, many small manufacturers use a large amount of recycled materials recycled from chemical waste, medical waste and domestic waste to produce express packaging, which may contain excessive heavy metals, toxic organic matter and pathogens.

Suggestion: Multi-department linkage makes green express delivery closer

Solving the problem of express waste requires joint efforts from multiple links.

First, the industry should jointly establish relevant standards. For example, it is necessary to clarify what kind of packaging is used for what kind of goods, the environmental protection standards of express packaging materials, and the quantity standards of various non-degradable materials used in packaging.

Secondly, legislation should be initiated to clarify the recycling system with clear responsibilities and powers, which can be learned from foreign experience.

In addition, the government should play the role of comprehensive management and regulate the express delivery industry through policies. For example, increase the cost of non-degradable materials, encourage recycling through financial subsidies, call on consumers to improve environmental awareness, and establish a processing system for packaging classification and recycling.

At the same time, reverse recycling by express delivery companies can be considered. When delivering express delivery, try to take the packaging away from the customer; encourage customers to actively hand in waste packaging by reducing or exempting express delivery fees.

Consumers' environmental awareness should also not be ignored, and it is even a very critical factor. After receiving the goods, consciously keep reusable packaging, or storage boxes, shoe boxes, etc., or send them to the waste station in a centralized manner.

Experience: How do foreign countries deal with it?

In fact, this phenomenon is not unique to China. Various countries have launched different attempts around this issue, and their advanced experience has certain reference value.

The boxes and black bags of Korean express delivery are all recyclable environmentally friendly materials and can be thrown directly into classified trash cans. China's large e-commerce companies can learn from similar measures and work harder on the reuse of express packaging.

At present, countries such as Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany have legal provisions with very specific restrictions. For example, the volume of the packaging must exceed the volume of the article by less than one-tenth; the weight of the packaging cannot be greater than the packaged object; the value of the packaging cannot be higher than the packaged object.

Japan has formulated and implemented the "Packaging Recycling Law". After consumers classify the packaging waste, the collection and transportation system will transport the classified packaging waste to a special processing center for recycling and remanufacturing through timed recycling, collective transfer, etc. Germany has issued the "Packaging Waste Management Measures", which stipulates that waste packaging should be handled in the order of "reduction, reuse, recycling, and final disposal", and also stipulates that 80% of packaging waste and 100% of transport packaging must be recycled. (Compiled from Beijing Morning Post, China Youth Daily, China News Service, etc.)

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