Green Packaging and Design (1)

With the development of economy and the increase of people's consumption level, the packaging industry has formed a complete industrial system and is moving forward at an alarming rate. In 2000, the output value of China's packaging industry has increased to more than 220 billion yuan. It is estimated that by 2005, the total value of the packaging industry in the country could reach 320 billion yuan. According to relevant information, the total industrial output value of the global packaging industry has reached 6,000 to 700 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for about 2% of the world's GDP. The packaging industry has ranked among the top ten industries in the world. Therefore, the packaging of products has become the life of people. An important part of world trade exchanges is an indispensable part. However, with the rapid development of various packaging industries, a large number of packaging waste generated, and the pollution of packaging materials and packaging production processes have become more and more prominent. Therefore, green packaging and its design that require changes to the current situation have emerged. The green packaging movement is rapidly expanding from developed countries to the world.

1 Green packaging

Green packaging refers to the fact that during the entire life cycle of product packaging, it can not only meet the functional requirements of packaging economically, but also does not cause pollution to the ecological environment, does not cause any harm to human health, and can be recycled and reused to meet the requirements of sustainable development. Packaging material. In addition to the main functions of traditional packaging such as product protection, costumes and divisions, information transmission, and promotional value-added, green packaging emphasizes environmental coordination, and current environmental coordination has gradually become a major indicator of good packaging performance. Reduced packaging, Reuse, and Recycling are common 3R principles. In addition, packaging materials are also required to be non-toxic and harmless to humans and organisms, and to be degradable after disposal.

2. Green Packaging International Regulations

After 1978, industrialized countries in Europe developed green economy and started to promote the “green sign” of product packaging in international trade to protect the environment and develop the green packaging industry. Any person who bears the "green mark" indicates that the product packaging meets the requirements of environmental protection from production to use and recycling. A product package can only obtain a “pass” to enter the country’s market if it has obtained a country’s environmental label. Since 1986, some EU countries have successively promulgated relevant green regulations such as the “Packaging Waste Disposal Law”, and strictly prohibit the entry of packages that do not meet environmental requirements. In 1991, the European Union issued the "Packaging/Packaging Waste Directive."

In June 1992, the United Nations held the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 116 heads of state and more than 8,000 representatives from 172 countries participated in the United Nations. In the Rio Declaration, a strategy for sustainable development was clearly put forward. As a result, the green packaging legislation has entered a new phase of development that emphasizes harmonious development with the environment and adapts to the ecological environment.

After the “Rio Declaration”, in December 1994, the European Union issued a directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste Management, Directive 94/62/EC, on the environment and development requirements for imported product packaging. The country implements decrees as required. From January 1, 1998, only packaged goods that meet all major requirements can be sold on the EU market. The directive also includes the recycling and reuse of packaging waste. Producers and sellers are responsible for the environmental impact of packaging waste, and achieve effective recycling and pollution prevention of packaging waste. The implementation of this decree puts forward clearer and more stringent requirements for how manufacturers in various countries deal with products and packaging.

Since January 1996, the International Organization for Standardization ISO has successively introduced a series of international standards such as "ISO14001 Environment System", "ISO14014 Environmental Label", "ISO14026 Life Cycle Assessment", and so on, to develop green economy, standardize packaging, and promote the development of green packaging. It has played a very positive role. After several years of practice, companies all over the world have begun to carefully consider packaging design and material selection, and strive to increase the environmental performance, reduce waste, and reduce packaging costs while satisfying the protection, advertising, and descriptive nature of packaging. At the same time, the World Trade Organization (WTO), Greenpeace International (GP), the International Brand Federation (IBF), local non-governmental environmental NGOs, etc. also emphasized environmental and development, and recycling of waste products/packaging materials. Utilization of renewable resources.

In February 2003, the European Union announced the "Regulations on the Prohibition of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment" issued by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers of the European Union. instruction). The directive requires that the sale of electrical and electronic equipment containing lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated diphenyl ether, and polybrominated biphenyls, and six kinds of hazardous substances be prohibited in the EU market from July 1, 2006. The six types of harmful substances in the article were restricted.

3 Principles of Green Packaging and Design

Green packaging has a good environmental coordination that has been widely recognized by the community, but how can we achieve green packaging? Reasonable packaging structure design is an important prerequisite and condition for the implementation of green packaging, and it plays a key role in the whole life cycle environmental impact of packaging. In practical applications, the following aspects can be considered:

3.1. Through rational packaging structure design, the rigidity and strength of the package are improved, and materials are saved.

The basic function of packaging is to achieve the protection of the product during transportation. Therefore, the structure of the package should avoid adverse effects on the product structure and ensure that the package has sufficient rigidity and strength. Reasonable packaging structure design can not only protect the product, but also reduce the requirement for secondary packaging and transportation packaging and reduce the use of packaging materials due to the increase in packaging strength and stiffness. For example, in the box-shaped thin-walled container, in order to prevent deformation of the container edge, a structure in which the wall thickness of the container is locally increased may be used to improve the rigidity of the container edge; in order to reduce the warpage of the container sidewall, a corrugated structure may be used. In order to prevent or reduce the deformation of the bottom of the container, the shape of the flat plate may be changed to a spherical or arched surface. With the above structure, the wall thickness can be reduced and the material can be saved.
DEC's research shows that increasing the internal structural strength of its products can reduce 54% of packaging materials and reduce packaging costs by 62%.