The Future of Global Packaging Industry - Green Packaging

In the wave of sustainable development, a green revolution has arisen around the world. The theme of this year's "3.15" quality journey in China is "green consumption." Green products cover many areas such as green packaging, green agriculture, green refrigerators and green buildings. The concept of green products originated in Germany. In 1987, Germany implemented a "Blue Sky Envoyment" program, which was approved by the Environmental Protection Committee for products that meet environmental protection requirements during production and use, and that are harmless to the environment and human health. Product green sign. Subsequently, countries such as the United States, Japan, and Canada also successively established a green mark certification system to ensure that consumers recognize the environmental nature of products and encourage manufacturers to produce pollution-free green products.
The high level of industrial production has created a material civilization for humans and has also brought a series of environmental problems. Many global environmental problems such as environmental pollution, depletion of resources, and ecological destruction have constrained the sustainable development of the economy and endangered the long-term interests of mankind. China's 2005 plan has also increased environmental protection, planning requirements: rational control of population, sustainable and rational use of resources, improve urban and rural environment and inhibit ecological deterioration, improve the quality and efficiency of economic development, packaging industry as an industrial sector It also faces environmental and resource issues without exception. At present, packaging products are involved in the destruction of the environment in the following aspects: The use of chlorofluorocarbons in the production of foamed plastics has led to a reduction in the earth's ozone layer; the "white pollution" caused by the disposal of disposable foamed plastic utensils is still very serious; packaging waste Rivers, lakes, and oceans cause water pollution; papermaking harmful substances also pollute water and soil. Therefore, the packaging industry must not only care about the quality, performance, and cost of the packaged products, but also the environmental impact of packaging products and the consumption of resources. Therefore, only the development of green packaging is the only choice for the sustainable development of the packaging industry.
The concept of green packaging was proposed in the 1980s. The so-called green packaging refers to packaging products in the process of production and use of the human body and the environment without harm, and can be recycled or can be naturally degraded moderate packaging. Therefore, green packaging is a new type of industrial development model that is resource-saving and can be supported on a long-term basis based on the environment and resources.
The Green Packaging Design Method The green packaging design is a packaging design process with the environment and resources as the core concepts. It requires that the basic attributes and environmental attributes of the product be closely integrated throughout the life of the product. In addition to meeting product performance requirements, design decisions must also meet environmental performance requirements to achieve optimal design goals.
Green packaging design is a developing system design method that integrates object-oriented technology, concurrent engineering, and life cycle. It is a system that integrates the quality, function, life, and environment of packaging. It not only needs to consider the quality, function and cost of packaging, but also consider the impact of packaging on the environment from raw materials to the whole process of processing, use and disposal. That is, the whole process from cradle to reproduction. The green packaging design can maximize the utilization of resources and energy, and minimize the impact of packaging on the environment or completely eliminate pollution.
Contents of the Green Packaging Design The main contents of the green packaging design include the materials for the green packaging design, the structural design of the green packaging, the recyclability design of the packaging, and the cost analysis of the green packaging.
Materials for green packaging design: designers are required to change the traditional selection of materials and steps. When selecting materials, it is necessary not only to consider the function of packaging products, but also to consider the environmental constraints, which should be non-toxic, non-polluting, easy to recycle, and easy to degrade s material. In general, cardboard, metal, glass, biodegradable plastic, cloth, etc. are all green materials.
"To replace paper with plastic" and "to replace wood with paper" is the inevitable trend in the selection of packaging materials today. The disposable foam plastic lunch boxes belong to the backward products announced by the State Economic and Trade Commission in 1999 and should be eliminated by the year 2000. However, the current implementation situation is not satisfactory. It is hoped that all relevant law enforcement agencies of the government will try their best to hold office, let us all raise awareness of environmental protection, and vigorously support the production of paper-molded disposable tableware so that it can fully occupy the market as soon as possible. At present, the use of paper bags for food packaging in supermarkets has increased. This is a welcome phenomenon. "Paper Replacement Wood" uses high-strength, high-pressure-resistant, sound-insulating, heat-insulating honeycomb paperboard instead of wood, and is widely used in packaging boxes, construction, and decorative materials and products. Although there is still a gap between the current level of technology and foreign countries, the market has great potential.
Structural design of green packaging: The packaging structure should be as simple as possible when carrying out packaging design. Excessive packaging of goods not only consumes more materials, increases the volume of the packaging, causes waste of resources, but also increases the amount of urban waste that is not conducive to environmental protection. In addition, over-ornate packaging also increases the economic burden on consumers, resulting in consumer infringement.
The green packaging recyclability design: It is a kind of packaging materials in the initial stage of the design will consider the possibility of recycling of packaging materials, recycling value, recycling methods and a series of issues, so as to achieve the maximum use of packaging materials, energy, and Design ideas and methods that minimize environmental pollution. Recyclability design includes: Recyclable materials and signs; Recyclable processes and methods; Economic evaluation of recyclability; Recyclable structural design.
The cost analysis of green packaging: The cost analysis of green packaging is different from the traditional packaging cost analysis. Since the initial stage of product design, we must consider the performance of product recycling, recycling and other uses. In addition, whether or not the expenditure on environmental protection will affect the cost accounting of the product. And there are differences in the actual costs of the same environmental projects in different countries. Therefore, the green packaging cost analysis should be carried out at the beginning of each design, so as to make the design packaging cost lower.
Conclusion As an important component of the national economy, the packaging industry must develop green packaging in the global economic integration and sustainable development. Green packaging design is a complex system project. Only in the nationality, especially the packaging workers have a strong sense of environmental protection can the rapid development of China's green packaging.