According to statistics, half of the current global plastic production is used to produce disposable products. According to a report from the World Economic Forum, only 14% of the plastic packaging produced is recycled, and only 2% of the plastic packaging is recycled at the same level. In other words, most plastics end up in landfills, incinerators or flow into the environment, causing pollution. It is particularly noteworthy that according to current trends, plastic production will still double in the next 20 years.

In the face of the severe global plastic crisis, what measures should we take to effectively respond? Recently, the "Supporting the "Dual Carbon" Goal-Exploring the Promotion Forum on Recyclable and Green Packaging for Express Delivery and the Annual Meeting of the Guangdong Express Packaging Industry Green Development Alliance" was held. Experts and scholars from the government, universities, enterprises, and NGOs focused on the express delivery and takeout industries, focusing on the current situation and challenges of recycling and reuse models, and exploring the way out of plastic pollution in the future.

Reuse is called for as a priority governance model

According to statistics, in order to deal with plastic pollution, more than 100 countries around the world have introduced relevant plastic management policies and plastic pollution prevention and control measures, among which most of the measures focus on the recycling of waste plastics and the governance of environmental pollution.

In the view of Zheng Xue, director-general of Get Rid of Plastic, an organization dedicated to solving plastic pollution, although these methods are important measures to solve plastic pollution problems, there is no way to effectively prevent the continued increase of plastic waste or fundamentally solve the problem of plastic pollution by simply recycling or controlling pollution at the back end of discarded plastics.

"More and more studies have shown that the current expansion of global plastic pollution is much faster than the implementation of prevention and control measures, and the carbon emissions of plastics in their life cycle are significant." Zheng Xue said.

According to the report "Breaking the Plastic Wave" released by the Pew Charitable Foundation and an environmental think tank in 2020, if humans do not take any measures to cope with the expected growth in plastic production and consumption, it is predicted that in the next 20 years, the amount of marine plastic waste will triple from 2016, from 11 million tons to 29 million tons - equivalent to 50 kilograms of plastic on every meter of coastline around the world.

Zheng Xue emphasized: "In order to resolve the plastic pollution crisis, we need a set of system solutions that focus on starting from the source." That is, to set a higher priority for the front end of the plastic industry chain - source reduction. In addition to reducing the use of unnecessary disposable plastics, it is also necessary to provide people with products and services through recyclable and reusable models, so as to avoid the use of disposable packaging and product consumption models at the source.

The report "Breaking the Plastic Wave" also puts forward a similar view, suggesting "systemic change", that is, in addition to increasing waste collection and recycling capabilities, clean material substitution and other source reduction measures, it is also necessary to pay attention to the importance of recyclability and reuse.

So, what exactly is the recycling and reuse model? Is it the same concept as the spontaneous recycling in people's daily behavior? What are the advantages of promoting the recycling and reuse model on a large scale?

It is understood that the reuse model discussed in the industry is not what people usually understand. According to the definition of "reuse" by the International Organization for Standardization, it should have at least the following characteristics: the same package maintains its original function and form, the package is designed to be used repeatedly, and there is a system to support the reuse of the package.

At present, cases that are considered to be large-scale "reuse" include bottled water in water dispensers, express recycling boxes, and takeaway recycling cups that are popular abroad. The key areas that are considered to be able to promote the reuse model are the express delivery and takeaway industries, which have huge plastic usage and are growing rapidly.

This is also the focus of the "Assisting the "Dual Carbon" Goal-Exploring the Promotion Forum of Recyclable and Green Packaging for Express Delivery and Takeaway".

Large-scale application of recyclable express packaging, aiming at a way out

Why is the express delivery industry considered a key industry for the reuse model? On the one hand, this stems from the continuous growth of express delivery business and the resulting increase in plastic pollution. On the other hand, it also stems from a series of explorations and practices in the large-scale application of recyclable express packaging.

It is understood that at present, the large-scale application of recyclable packaging in the express delivery industry has a series of practices and results. Zhilu Technology, which is deeply engaged in the field of recycled packaging, is a technology company that integrates upstream and downstream industrial chains to output green recycled packaging solutions to users. Its technical research and development director Guo Xin said that the recycled express boxes developed by his company can be used multiple times, and its single-use cost is more than 30% lower than that of traditional packaging. Zhongtong Group has also signed a supply contract with it. According to Zhongtong's 500,000 recycled express boxes, the purchased express boxes can be recycled 5 times a month, saving 30 million cartons a year.

However, in order to achieve results and truly realize green transformation, the recycled express packaging for end consumers must be applied on a large scale.

However, in the face of multiple recycling express packaging application problems such as low consumer participation awareness, poor terminal infrastructure, lack of standardization, and low turnover rate, how can we achieve a breakthrough?

Wen Zongguo, professor at the School of Environment, Tsinghua University, suggested: "First, identify the waste characteristics of express packaging to achieve precise control; second, compare different governance paths such as recycling and sharing to quantify the environmental impact of the entire chain; third, further identify and clarify the responsible parties."

Duan Yanjian, project leader of JD Logistics Qingliu Project, believes that the first thing to do is to solve the problem of standardization and sharing. "In addition to size, customization needs to be cancelled on the layout so that the recycling packaging can be circulated among enterprises."

Yan Haiying, chairman of Fuhai, agreed: "Standardization is a necessary stage." As one of the first batch of pilot units for large-scale application of recyclable express packaging in Shanghai, Fuhai not only considered physical performance and packaging structure during the pilot process, but also used Internet of Things technology to achieve system solutions.

Guo Xin said: "Using electronic tracking to use the box as a carrier for the construction of an information platform will be an important direction for the further upgrading of the recycling express box."

The importance of terminal infrastructure cannot be ignored. Duan Yanjian emphasized: "Building a socialized recycling system for circular packaging is a decisive factor in achieving large-scale application, and systematic problems cannot be solved by one industry or enterprise alone. It requires upstream and downstream coordination of the supply chain, as well as support and incentives from relevant policies." Yan Haiying also proposed that the government departments take the lead in organizing the construction of recycling infrastructure, so as to guide e-commerce platforms, delivery companies, communities, consumers and other parties in the whole chain to jointly promote the application of circular express packaging.

There are many opportunities for green transformation of takeaway packaging, and policy support is the key

Like the rapidly growing express delivery industry, the takeaway industry has also flourished with the change in the lifestyle of young people. Du Huanzheng, director of the Institute of Ecological Civilization and Circular Economy of Tongji University and dean of the Yangtze River Delta Circular Economy Technology Research Institute of Zhejiang Province, introduced that in 2020, the scale of China's takeaway catering market has reached 664.6 billion yuan.

However, the resulting problem of plastic pollution in the takeaway industry packaging cannot be ignored. According to the "Research Report on the Environmental Impact and Recycling of Takeaway Packaging Plastics (2021)" jointly released by Du Huanzheng's team and Sinopec, in 2020, China consumed (discarded) a total of 574,000 tons of plastics through mainstream Internet takeaway platforms, a 10-fold increase in 5 years.

How to reduce the environmental impact of takeaway plastic packaging while allowing people to enjoy comfortable and convenient takeaways? Du Huanzheng said that it should "change from the mass production, mass consumption, and mass waste model of industrial civilization to reasonable production, moderate consumption, and recycling under the concept of ecological civilization."

How to achieve an overall breakthrough? Du Huanzheng proposed that a recycling system for takeaway packaging should be established, from materials to packaging, to catering companies, to takeaway platforms, to consumers, to recycling companies, to processing companies... to form a closed-loop plastic cycle involving the entire industry chain. At the same time, Du Huanzheng suggested that pilot demonstrations of closed-loop plastic recycling should be launched by industry, scenario, and category, such as taking the lead in promoting pilot projects for takeaway packaging recycling in places where traffic is relatively concentrated, such as colleges and universities and office buildings.

It is understood that in Hong Kong, China, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has received support from the Environment and Conservation Fund of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and has cooperated with the online food delivery platform company foodpanda to launch the "Reusable Lunch Box Plan". Customers can choose reusable lunch boxes when ordering takeout, and the meals will be delivered in reusable lunch boxes. After the meal, customers can simply wash the lunch boxes and return them to the nearby self-service collection machine. In addition, some mainland cities and universities are also exploring the practice of recyclable lunch boxes.

However, the recycling of takeout packaging, including recyclable lunch boxes, faces many obstacles such as cost, safety, and acceptance. Breaking through requires strong policy support. It is understood that at present, European countries have focused on relatively easy areas in the reusable policies they are vigorously promoting. For example, Austria and Germany have set their reuse modeling goals on beverage packaging. Compared with other product packaging, glass bottle packaging is easier to reuse and refill.

As an important part of exploring and promoting the recycling and reusable model, the role of enterprises is crucial. Meituan, the Chinese food delivery giant, has launched the Qingshan Plan, which has now formed a recommended list of three types of green packaging: "paper, degradable plastic, and easy to recycle and regenerate", including 161 products from 101 manufacturers. From 2020 to date, Meituan has incubated two batches of 30 green innovative packaging for application scenarios such as Chinese food and tea drinks, and has put a total of 1.91 million pieces into use by catering businesses.

In addition, other parties in the industry chain also need to coordinate and cooperate, with the support of policies, regulations, standards, and public recognition and participation. Only with the joint efforts of all stakeholders in the industry, government, and the public can the governance of plastic pollution usher in a real breakthrough.

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