During this year's "Double 11", as the consumer market ushered in a new upsurge, the greening and reduction of the express delivery industry has also attracted more and more attention.

From the reduction and recycling of packaging to the optimization of the transportation system, with the coordinated promotion of multiple parties, the greening process of the express delivery industry is also accelerating.

Pay deposit, calculate full discount, pay the balance, unpack express delivery...On the "Double 11" that just passed, online shopping ushered in a new upsurge.

According to the "Guiding Opinions on Collaboratively Promoting Green Packaging in the Express Delivery Industry" issued by 10 departments including the State Post Bureau and the National Development and Reform Commission, the first week of November each year is the "Green Express Promotion Week". In recent years, with the development of e-commerce, the greening and reduction of the express delivery industry have attracted more and more attention from the society. The competent departments, postal express delivery companies, consumers and other parties are working together to make express delivery greener.

Multi-party collaborative promotion of greening and reduction of express packaging

A few days ago, Ms. He from Chaoyang District, Beijing received a call from the courier in her office saying that the fruit she bought had arrived. Ms. He asked the courier to put the package at the door, and the courier repeatedly reminded her: "Don't throw away the incubator, I will collect it in the afternoon."

The e-commerce platform that Ms. He often uses has been using reusable incubators for several years. "The salmon, cod, and lamb chops I often buy are all packed in this incubator. Every time they are delivered, I take the things out and the courier will take the box away." Ms. He said.

This reusable incubator is an attempt by postal express companies to promote the greening of express packaging. According to industry insiders, there are 6 main types of express packaging, 10% of the main packaging is envelopes, 55% is packaging boxes, 34% is plastic packaging bags, and there are also fillers, tapes, and internally processed transit bags, which are of many types and large quantities. Promoting the reduction of express packaging is an important part of promoting green packaging.

According to a warehouse manager of a postal express company, during this year's "Double 11" period, the company's daily use of recycling boxes in a single warehouse exceeded 50,000, replacing more than 200,000 cartons and plastic packaging materials per day in the past. Another postal express company, in conjunction with an e-commerce platform, launched a 60,000-station incentive packaging recycling program and a 10,000-station pilot old packaging recycling mailing program, and encouraged and promoted express packaging recycling in various forms.

In recent years, in order to promote the greening, reduction and recycling of express packaging, the State Post Bureau has promoted the addition of relevant provisions on express packaging management in laws such as the E-Commerce Law, and guided delivery companies to strengthen scientific and technological innovation around key areas such as green packaging; in the "Interim Regulations on Express Delivery", "Express Delivery Market Management Measures" and "National Standards for Express Delivery Services", the relevant requirements for express production operations have been clarified, and the "Application Reference for Mail and Express Packaging Waste Recycling Boxes" has been issued to steadily promote the recycling and reuse of packaging waste.

Through the electronicization of express waybills and the reduction of packaging, China's express delivery industry has made progress in its exploration of greening and reducing the volume of express delivery: in 2020, replacing traditional paper express waybills with electronic waybills is equivalent to saving 83.3 billion sheets of A4 paper; reducing the number of corrugated paper layers of corrugated boxes from 5 to 3 or even less, reducing the thickness of packaging bags from 0.06 mm to 0.03 mm, and reducing the width of tape from 60 mm and above to 45 mm and below.

By promoting postal express companies to set up packaging waste recycling devices that meet standards at postal express outlets, reusing packaging boxes and filling materials that are intact and meet quality standards after recycling, and guiding postal express company couriers to collect at door-to-door and post stations, the State Post Bureau is exploring the construction of a "reverse logistics" model for the recycling of mail and express packaging. So far, the industry has put into use 3.8 million recyclable express boxes (boxes), effectively reducing the use of packaging boxes, packaging bags and filling materials.

The "Measures for the Management of Mail and Express Packaging" implemented on March 12 clarified the requirements and principles for packaging selection, and stipulated that express delivery companies should strictly implement the packaging management system, give priority to reusable and recyclable packaging, and reduce the use of packaging. The "Measures" require express delivery companies to carry out packaging operations reasonably, not to wrap too much tape, and to minimize the number of packaging layers, voids and fillers. In addition, express delivery companies are encouraged to establish and improve work mechanisms and recycling processes to recycle and reuse packaging.

The current practice of greening express packaging also faces difficulties

At present, the management of express packaging is constantly improving, but its green practice still faces some difficulties.

"I sent luggage from Guangzhou to Beijing. I couldn't bear to see the courier wrapping tape around the box. It was such a waste!" Mr. Liu from Beijing said helplessly: "I told him not to wrap it so much. If it breaks, it's my fault. The courier said no. They have their own standards and they have to ensure safety." The reporter visited many postal express companies. Many couriers said that their main job is to deliver the express to customers safely, and sometimes they don't think too much about saving packaging materials.

Consumers have the awareness of recycling and reducing, but lack practical channels; postal express companies have to consider the safety of mailing and the increase in costs when making relevant attempts.

During the interview, some couriers also told reporters that they would reduce the use of packaging materials according to the specific situation at work, and adopt the packaging methods such as "one" and "ten" according to the size of the box in accordance with relevant regulations. When the weight of the items is not heavy and the packaging is not easy to leak, they will try to wrap less tape; according to the specific situation of the items, use less or no fillers. They will also ask customers whether they are willing to recycle the boxes when delivering them, and keep some boxes that are basically problem-free.

The reduction and greening of express packaging, and the exploration of technology has been advancing. An industry insider engaged in express packaging design told reporters that taking corrugated boxes as an example, many cartons will be covered with a layer of plastic film during production for the sake of appearance or waterproofing, but this also makes the cartons difficult to recycle. "Many agricultural products, such as fruits, will evaporate water during transportation, or are easily damp when placed in cold storage. If they are not coated, the cartons will collapse easily and cannot protect the goods. At present, some institutions are also exploring new processes in order to get rid of the coating technology."

"Whether it is packaging materials or filling materials, the cost of biodegradable materials is several times that of ordinary materials, so they can only be used in products with high added value." The industry insider said.

As for recycling packaging, the relevant person in charge of a postal express company introduced that in terms of express recycling boxes, the packaging cost mainly consists of two parts. One is the material cost of the packaging box. Under normal circumstances, in order to ensure that the packaging can be recycled many times, the cost of purchasing plastic boxes is 15-20 times that of cartons of the same specifications, and the service life of the box is 30-40 times. The main reason why the recycling operation cost is relatively high is that in the express delivery scenario, a recycling management system needs to be put into use in the early stage, and the cost of packaging recycling, allocation, cleaning and maintenance must be invested in the operation process. Overall, compared with cartons, recycling packaging has no obvious cost advantage at this stage.

According to relevant officials of the State Post Bureau, the green governance of express packaging faces three problems:

First, the legal and regulatory standards system still needs to be improved. Express packaging involves multiple entities such as packaging production enterprises, packaging sales enterprises, commodity production enterprises, senders (e-commerce operators and general users), postal express companies, recipients, community properties, waste recycling companies, and garbage disposal agencies. The current laws, regulations and standards are mainly for postal express companies, and there is a lack of effective constraints on other entities, which restricts the effectiveness of governance.

Secondly, the coordination between upstream and downstream needs to be strengthened. Parcels from upstream e-commerce operators account for more than 70% of the express delivery business volume. Through the guidance of postal express companies to upstream users, 76% of e-commerce express parcels are no longer repackaged in the delivery link. Therefore, promoting upstream industries such as e-commerce to implement green packaging requirements has become the key to express packaging governance.

Secondly, green supply is insufficient. At present, the green supply of the industry is relatively insufficient. The green products, technologies and models that focus on the actual needs of the industry are lacking. The promotion cost of biodegradable packaging under natural conditions is high. The application model of recyclable packaging urgently needs innovation, and the replacement cost remains high. According to statistics, if the entire industry uses biodegradable plastic packaging bags and environmentally friendly tapes to replace the ordinary plastic packaging bags and ordinary plastic tapes currently used, the industry will increase costs by 18.79 billion yuan based on the business volume in 2020, accounting for about 2.1% of the business income of Chinese express service companies.

Green express delivery, everyone is responsible

In order to call on consumers to participate in the recycling of express packaging, a postal express company and an e-commerce platform have newly laid 13,000 green recycling boxes. During this year's "Double 11", 500,000 fresh eggs were prepared every day to be given to consumers who participated in the recycling of express boxes.

It is worth noting that usage habits are also related to the promotion and application of environmentally friendly express packaging.

An industry insider said: "Express delivery is a complete system. At this stage, some recyclable and degradable packaging materials may be slightly inferior in physical properties such as compression resistance. So how to adapt to these materials is a great test for the entire system."

The "Regulations on the Management of Mail and Express Packaging" comprehensively stipulates the obligations of express delivery companies in terms of packaging selection, packaging operations, packaging recycling and reuse. However, most express delivery companies cannot fulfill their corresponding obligations without the cooperation of users. For example, for the packaging operations performed by couriers in accordance with the specifications, users should not make unreasonable requirements such as too much wrapping tape; if the self-provided packaging does not meet the regulations and the courier requires replacement or replacement on behalf of the courier, the user shall not refuse or hinder it; for the recyclable packaging put into use by the delivery company, the recipient shall return the recyclable packaging to the courier after taking out the contents, etc.

According to relevant officials of the State Post Bureau, in the next step, the State Post Bureau will fully implement the provisions of the Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Waste, the E-Commerce Law and other laws, comprehensively promote the green management of express packaging, improve and perfect the legal system of laws, regulations, standards and policies, and continuously promote the greening, reduction and recycling of express packaging.

The State Post Bureau calls on all users to actively participate in and earnestly cooperate with the relevant work of the postal management departments and delivery companies, and jointly contribute to the construction of green express delivery and the construction of a beautiful China.

(Compiled by reporter Li Xinping and written by Wang Luchun)

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