Green Packaging (2)

Fourth, the beneficial revelation of China's prevention and control of "white pollution"

The development of green packaging must attach great importance to environmental protection.

Since the end of the last century, China has gradually entered the period of market economy. After vigorously developing commodity production, the production and application of packaging have also achieved tremendous development. However, for a long period of time, the emphasis on environmental protection has been insufficient. The negative impact of the production and application of packaging on the environment has become increasingly serious. The serious pollution to the environment caused by the waste of plastic packaging material and the formation of the so-called “white pollution”, which is appalling, has still been vividly remembered; in particular, we should draw our attention to the similar situation in the production and application of other packaging materials. The pollution of river water system caused by sewage in the papermaking process cannot be ignored. Therefore, we must pay great attention to environmental protection issues when we develop packaging.

The development of green packaging must be guided by the scientific concept of development.

The development of green packaging is a systematic project that requires scientific planning and scientific organization and implementation of new achievements in scientific and technological progress in order to achieve the desired results.

In the treatment of environmental pollution caused by disposable foamed polystyrene tableware, Shanghai has taken the lead in making significant progress in the country, achieving a harmless treatment and achieving a recycling rate of more than 70%. The main experience is: Based on the advanced experience of foreign countries, through the coordination organization of the Waste Management Office of Shanghai, the disposable foamed polystyrene tableware production unit will invest (3 cents for each tableware management fee). Responsible for recycling; set up processing workshops in sewage treatment plants to undertake regeneration tasks; digest and use advanced technologies for reclaiming waste foam plastics in Taiwan, and rely on the production capacity of wastewater treatment plants to dispose of disposable foam polystyrene tableware The sewage generated during the regeneration process is harmlessly treated. This is a typical case of success and can be used for reference and promotion.

The development of green packaging must involve the participation of enterprises, society and the government.

In the case of Shanghai's success, we have already mentioned the role of governments and companies in handling packaging waste and promoting green packaging. It must also be pointed out that the strong support of society is also essential. If Shanghai has a high awareness of environmental protection and there is no strong support from the society, people will use post-packaged waste to throw it away. It is unthinkable to achieve good results in the disposal of packaging waste. Therefore, we must also emphasize the joint participation of enterprises, society, and the government. Otherwise, the greening of packaging materials will be difficult to do well.

The development of green packaging can achieve a double harvest of social and economic benefits.

In the development of green packaging, there often arises conflicts between social and economic benefits. Some people mistakenly believe that the development of green packaging and the economic benefits of enterprises is an irreconcilable conflict. Therefore, some enterprises are motivated to develop green packaging. Not high, some paper mills prefer to pay for the wastewater sewage treatment without serious treatment of sewage and other phenomena. In fact, as long as we are willing to work hard and rationally apply the achievements of science and technology, we are entirely possible. When developing green packaging, we must also obtain good social benefits and good economic benefits.

Kunshan Baolv Plastic Resources Recycling Co., Ltd. has been investing in the operation of recycling disposable foamed polystyrene cutlery in recent years. The transition to a phase that has already produced considerable economic benefits has already reached a profit of more than 1 million yuan in 2004. This is a convincing case. Also in the production of composite flexible packaging materials, if we use solvent-free composite alternative dry composite, it may also have good social benefits and good economic benefits.

Fifth, the "green" packaging materials must pay attention to issues

Strengthen publicity to raise awareness of environmental protection.

The “Greenization” of packaging is a huge system project that involves every aspect and every specific person. Without the attention of the whole society and the active participation of the broad masses of the people, it is not possible to do so. In recent years, we have carried out a lot of publicity on green packaging, raised people's awareness of environmental protection, and made gratifying achievements, but we cannot be satisfied with the status quo. In the coming period of time, we must further strengthen publicity. The efforts to make the broad masses of the people's environmental awareness, there is a qualitative leap and considerable progress.

Improve regulations and strengthen supervision.

Green packaging involves many aspects. A considerable portion of these issues, such as packaging safety and health issues, can only be tested through testing agencies and related regulations and standards. Only in this way can we draw correct conclusions. Therefore, we need to improve regulations and strengthen supervision. The development of green packaging has an irreplaceable role.

Pay attention to clean production work.

Many packaging materials such as plastic packaging have the potential to achieve clean production. For example, in the production of composite flexible packaging materials that are widely used, there are co-extrusion composites, solvent-free composites, and other clean production processes. At present, in the production of composite flexible packaging materials, a large number of dry composite processes using solvent-based adhesives should go through arduous efforts to transform the production of composite flexible packaging materials into cleaner production processes as soon as possible.

Establish a levy system for collection of waste disposal fees.

The overwhelming majority of commodity packaging is one-time use. After the goods are opened in the hands of consumers, they become waste, and the harmless and resourceful disposal of packaging waste is of great significance. Therefore, in the treatment of packaging waste, we should learn from the successful experience of foreign countries, whoever produces and who is responsible for governance, according to the production volume of packaging materials, impose a disposal fee for packaging waste on the production unit. The reason is as follows:

The development of the harmless and resourceful treatment of packaging waste requires sufficient economic support, otherwise it is impossible to carry it out. Even after a successful work project with good social and economic benefits, the initial stage of implementation often requires a lot of investment.

The use of packaging materials has a wide range of applications. The processing of packaging waste is naturally very large. If all the costs are packaged by the state, it will be difficult for the government to raise enough funds in the near future.

The unit that produces packaging materials, and the disposal fee for packaging waste, will increase the production cost, and even cause a slight price adjustment for a small amount of packaging materials. However, as long as it is reasonable in terms of design and material selection of the packaging, conservation and opposition to over-packaging In principle, the packaging cost of commodities will not exceed the social affordability.

Through the adjustment of the proportion of packaging waste disposal fees, packaging waste has no negative impact on the environment and negative effects such as degradable plastics, reduce the proportion of charges; packaging waste has a negative impact on the environment such as PVDC, increase the proportion of charges to support Development of environmentally friendly packaging materials.

In addition, the savings portion of the packaging waste disposal fee can be used as a special environmental protection fund for packaging, which can be used for R&D of green packaging and promotion of results and promote the development of green packaging.

Make good use of the macro planning of packaging waste.

The use of packaging waste can often be achieved in a variety of ways. Some packaging waste can be used as a material resource through reprocessing, and can also be used for incineration and recovery of thermal energy for power generation. It is of special significance for the relevant government departments to make macro plans. It is understood that in some regions, on the one hand, the recycling and recycling of plastic packaging wastes is promoted, and on the other hand, oil and coal are added to the combustion furnaces of waste power plants to increase heat energy. This practice is very inappropriate.

It is recommended that in areas with high living standards such as the southeastern coastal areas where the content of combustible materials in the household garbage is large, the general plastics and paper wastes in packaging wastes can be disposed of in a waste power plant to recover heat energy. For those areas where the content of combustibles in household waste is relatively small, recycling and recycling should be vigorously advocated.

Author/Zheng Wen Source: China Packaging Industry -