Overpackaging calls for recycling of express boxes.
Every year, with the arrival of the shopping tide in double 11, a large number of packing boxes become domestic garbage, causing great waste. Photo by Pang Zheng
"double 11" is hot, and it is sent by courier brother together with the long-awaited goods, as well as large and small express cartons, foam boxes, express bags, ice bags, filled airbags, thermal insulation cotton and other packaging. "double 11" for 11 years, while people enjoy the convenience of shopping at home without leaving home, more and more packaging has also caused great waste.
In 2019, it is estimated that China’s express delivery business will exceed 60 billion pieces. The explosion of express delivery business can’t be underestimated. According to the data released by the State Post Bureau, in the first half of 2018, the increase of express packaging waste accounted for 93% of the increase of domestic waste, while in some large cities it was 85% to 90%. With the increasing awareness of environmental protection promoted by garbage sorting, how to reduce the use of packaging through all links in the supply chain is an important issue for logistics enterprises and e-commerce enterprises.
In August this year, when some urban people’s congress deputies listened to the opinions of the grassroots under the revision of the Regulations on the Management of Garbage Classification in Beijing, many residents, representatives of social workers, catering enterprises and property units all put forward suggestions to limit over-packaging.
The buyer is very helpless.
Four pieces of food were packed in three big boxes.
Taking advantage of the preferential price of double 11, Mr. Qu bought four steaks online, and put a box of mutton slices and a palm-sized piece of butter in the shopping cart to make up the bill.
Early the next morning, the delivery courier delivered a tightly wrapped styrofoam express box to the door of the community. When he came home with a pillow-sized styrofoam express box, Mr. Qu opened the box and saw three heavy ice bags piled up in it, and two bags of steak were pressed at the bottom. "Such a big box, empty inside put four pieces of meat. This is too wasteful. " On second thought, Mr. Qu felt something was wrong. What about the mutton slices and butter he bought together? The customer service staff said that the other two goods and steak were not wrapped in the same package and will be delivered later.
Even the chair was not hot at home, and the phone of the same courier called again: "There is a courier for you." What was handed over to Mr. Qu this time was a styrofoam express box with the same size as just now. Open the box, and there are two ice packs and a bag of mutton slices in the empty box. Apparently, the butter is still on the way.
A few hours later, Mr. Qu received a third courier box of the same size and material. This time, a piece of butter, not as big as an ice pack, lay pitifully at the bottom of the box.
Mr. Qu concentrated all the fresh food in three packages in a box, and the box was only half filled. On the floor of his house, three styrofoam express boxes piled up in a high pile, and eight ice packs were saved. "The express packaging is bigger than the things you buy." Thinking about it, I really don’t know what to do with the foam express box, so Mr. Qu had to throw the box and ice pack into the trash can downstairs.
Why do you have to send things three times separately when you can deliver them at once? The customer service staff explained that because steak, mutton slices and butter are located in different warehouses, they can only be delivered separately.
Sellers have to
Five strawberries have to be packed in five layers.
"We say that we are over-packaged, and we also have difficulties." Mr. Wang, who is engaged in high-end fruit sales in a company in Beijing, is full of bitterness.
Before "double 11", Mr. Wang purchased a batch of fresh strawberries from Dandong, Liaoning for sale in Beijing. Mr. Wang showed the reporter a box of "fine strawberries" just listed, and the price of five strawberries was as high as that of 40 yuan.
Each strawberry must be carefully wrapped in an independent small net bag, and then gently stuffed into a foam mold with grooves dug in advance, and sealed after the lid of the mold is covered. Finally, the mold is stuffed into a carton filled with thermal insulation cotton, and the express delivery can be carried out. If it is bought as a gift, an extra portable packaging bag with product name and other information will be provided for the customer. In order to protect five strawberries, at most, they should be packed with five packs.
Can you simplify the packaging? Mr. Wang explained, "Strawberry is a very delicate fruit. A whole box of strawberries is sent to the buyer. When you open the package, as long as there is a rotten one, people will have to give you a bad review or ask for a refund. When it was transported by express delivery, there was a little bump, and a whole box of strawberries was wasted. "
Mr. Wang said that because of the particularity of strawberry, it can only be packaged by workers by hand. Packing mesh bags, foam molds, thermal insulation cotton, cartons, handbags and even labor are all extra costs that have to be paid. "Take a box of 3 kg strawberries for example. The cost of packaging is about 10 yuan."
"Simplifying the packaging, we support it with both hands, which can also save costs. However, the simplification of packaging should not affect the quality and normal sales of products. Judging from the current technical level, we have to continue to use the three-layer and three-layer packaging here. " Mr. Wang has his own helplessness.
The platform tries to find a way
"No Tableware" to Reduce Takeaway Waste
A pair of chopsticks, a plastic spoon, a plastic round bowl, a plastic round bowl cover and a plastic bag. If users add soy sauce, vinegar or pepper to their orders, 3 to 5 small plastic bags will be produced. In this way, there are ten kinds of food waste produced by a user’s "rice mouth".
Ms. Guo is busy at work and often orders take-out. In the take-out bag, the merchants will distribute disposable tableware such as chopsticks, spoons, forks, paper towels and toothpicks every time. "If you order food at work, you have to use tableware, but when you order takeout at home, many tableware are actually not used." Ms. Guo opened her own cupboard and put bundles of disposable chopsticks and piles of paper towels in the drawer. "Spoons and chopsticks are available at home, and it is useless to accumulate more disposable tableware."
This incident has troubled Ms. Guo for a long time, but after that, she found that there was an option of "no tableware" on the takeaway platform, which made her happy. In order to minimize the waste of tableware, Hungry, Meituan and other major take-away platforms have set the options of "number of tableware" and "no tableware" on the settlement interface of orders for consumers to choose independently. The reporter saw on one of the take-away platforms that when the meal was selected and entered the settlement page, the "No Tableware" option was displayed at the bottom of the page. If selected, the system will add 10 energy values to the user, which can be used to participate in other special activities of the platform. The system will also thank the user for this environmental protection behavior.
Hungry? Statistics released last year show that its "Blue Planet" environmental protection plan has saved 16 million disposable tableware. Among them, Beijing’s environmental protection achievements are the most outstanding, and its order ratio of "no tableware" ranks first in the country.
Expert advice
The volume of express box circulation is strictly controlled.
Wang Weiping, a well-known garbage countermeasure expert, said in an interview with this reporter that, in fact, many countries in the world have issued clear legal provisions on the packaging of commodities, and there are specific provisions on the contents of prohibition and restriction. For example, the volume of the package cannot be one tenth larger than that of the package. "American ginseng, a common Chinese medicine on the market, is actually a big box, but the American ginseng inside is actually only a thin layer." This belongs to the fact that the volume of the package exceeds the standard. In addition, the weight of the package cannot be greater than that of the package. In the process of storage and transportation, the bigger and heavier the package, the higher the transportation cost. In addition, the value of the package can’t be higher than that of the package. "In the past, the mooncakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival cost 2,800 yuan a box, and there were 6 mooncakes in it. The cost was all on the box, which is not right."
In the face of huge express delivery volume, how to reduce packaging waste and reduce environmental pollution caused by all aspects of express delivery? The reporter found that many emerging "concepts" and activities have emerged quietly, such as "returning to the box plan" and "scientific packaging method", which use narrow tape of 45 mm or less to package and refuse to use packaging materials that are difficult to recycle. Take the "Qingliu Plan" of Jingdong Logistics as an example. In the two years since its launch, environmental protection measures such as "tape slimming" and recyclable fresh incubator have reduced the disposable express garbage by nearly 30,000 tons. The recyclable express box "Qingliu Box" has been put into use for more than 10 million times, and the number of cartons recovered has exceeded 5.4 million.
Wang Weiping also suggested that it is best to promote the recycling of express boxes, express boxes and other packages, and make clear requirements and strict restrictions on the volume of express packages. For example, if a customer wants to send a courier, the courier will bring a reusable courier box to the door. After the courier is delivered to the seller, the courier will be responsible for recycling the courier box to avoid waste.
(Reporter Zhang Nan Ye Xiaoyan)