With the increase of commodity transportation, people are increasingly concerned about the negative impact of traditional packaging methods on the environment. The extensive use of plastic packaging has led to the accumulation of plastic waste and marine pollution, while the excessive consumption of paper packaging has led to deforestation. In order to reduce the damage of packaging to the environment, some countries and regions, such as Europe and China, are actively promoting environmentally friendly ' green packaging '.
So, what does ' green packaging ' mean ? Why is it so important ? How to carry out related certification ?
What is green packaging
According to China 's standard GB / T 37422-2019 " Green Packaging Evaluation Methods and Criteria, " green packaging is defined as : in the whole life cycle of packaging products, on the basis of satisfying packaging functions, it has the least impact on human health and ecological environment, and less resource consumption.
Green packaging related certification / evaluation system
National unified green product certification
The national unified green product certification is a government-led certification system designed to evaluate and certify products that meet environmental standards, including green packaging.
In September 2015, the overall plan of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on the reform of the ecological civilization system proposed the goal of establishing a unified green product system. Subsequently, the General Administration of Market Supervision cooperated with relevant departments to formulate relevant documents such as " green product logo use management measures, " green product certification catalogue and certification rules, thus establishing a unified national green product certification system.
At present, under this certification system, the evaluation criteria related to packaging mainly include : GB / T 35613-2017 ' green product evaluation paper and paper products ' and GB / T 37866-2019 ' green product evaluation plastic products '.
Express packaging green product certification
Green product certification for express packaging is a specific certification system for the express delivery and logistics industry, which specifically evaluates the environmental performance and sustainability of express packaging.
The certification system and the national unified green product certification system belong to the category of " green product certification. "
In 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission, the State Post Office and other departments issued ' opinions on accelerating the green transformation of express packaging ' and ' green product certification rules for express packaging '. At the same time, the State Administration of Market Supervision and Administration and other departments also issued GB / T 39084-2020 ' Green Product Evaluation Express Packaging Products '. These documents have further improved the legal and regulatory system in the field of express packaging, and established a ' green packaging ' certification system for express packaging.
Green design product evaluation
Green design product evaluation focuses on assessing the impact of the product design phase on the environment, including packaging design, to ensure that the product minimizes the impact on the environment throughout the life cycle.
In 2015, ' Made in China 2025 ' put forward the goal of comprehensively promoting green manufacturing and strengthening green management of product life cycle. Subsequently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology organized the establishment of a green manufacturing system, including green design products, green factories, green supply chains and green parks.
By 2021, under the green manufacturing system launched by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the China Packaging Federation has issued three group standards, namely : T / CPF 0014-2021 ' Green Design Product Evaluation Technical Specification Folding Carton ', T / CPF 0022-2021 ' Green Design Product Evaluation Technical Specification Corrugated Cardboard and Corrugated Carton ' and T / CPF 0025-2021 ' Green Design Product Evaluation Technical Specification Solventless Label '. These standards provide new technical specifications for packaging enterprises applying for green design product evaluation.
