How to find the balance point of green packaging from circular economy (1)

Since the 20th century, with the tremendous increase in the productivity of science and technology, human society has created unprecedented material wealth. But at the same time, conflicts such as rapid population growth, excessive consumption of resources, environmental pollution, and ecological balance destruction have become increasingly prominent, and have become major global issues that seriously impede economic development and improve the quality of human life, and in turn threaten the future of humankind. The survival and development. Under such a grim situation, human beings have to re-examine their own social and economic behavior and development history and seek a development path that can sustain human progress. At the turn of the world, the international community has finally confirmed that the development of a knowledge-based economy and circular economy are the two major wheels for sustainable human development. The knowledge economy is focusing on strengthening the substitution of intellectual resources for material resources in the economic process and achieving a knowledge-based shift in economic activities. The circular economy requires the use of natural resources and environmental capacity in an environmentally friendly manner to achieve an ecological shift in economic activities.

Circular economy is short for Closing Materials Cycle. The so-called circular economy is characterized by material energy levels and closed-loop recycling, integrating clean production, comprehensive utilization of resources, ecological design, and sustainable consumption, and using ecological laws to guide the economic activities of human society. Therefore, in essence, It is an ecological economy. The traditional industrial social economy is a linear economy with one-way flow of “resource-product-pollution emissions”. This linear economy is characterized by “high extraction, low utilization, and high emissions”. People use more and more intensity to extract materials and energy from the earth, and in the process of production, processing, and consumption, a large amount of pollution and waste are Discharge into the environment, the use of resources is often extensive and one-time, through the continuous conversion of resources into a waste movement, through the natural cost of reverse growth to achieve the quantitative growth of the economy. With the development of modern industry, the production and consumption methods under this linear economy have led to the shortage and exhaustion of many natural resources, and have increasingly caused global environmental damage. Different from the traditional linear economy, the circular economy requires the application of ecological laws to integrate the economic system into a feedback process of “resource-product-renewable resources”, so that the material and energy can be used reasonably and lastingly in the entire economic activity, thus maximizing To limit the efficiency of the allocation of resources and environment, and to achieve the ecological and social economic turn. The circular economy advocates the development of economy based on the continuous recycling of materials. Low input, high utilization of natural resources, and low emission of waste will fundamentally resolve the sharp conflict between the environment and development. The development of circular economy is an important way to implement sustainable development strategies and achieve coordinated development of economy, society, resources, and the environment.

China is the largest developing country in the world, with a large population and scarce resources. The average per capita possession of resources is only half of the world average. The per capita possession of major mineral resources is less than half of the world average. Of the 45 major minerals that have been identified in China, only 21 will satisfy the demand in 2010 and only 6 will remain in 2020. To ensure national economic security and long-term development, resource strategies must be implemented. The fragility of ecosystems, the deterioration of environmental quality, and the high intensity of resource consumption are the costs that China’s economy has paid for maintaining its higher growth in the past decades. In terms of resource stock and environmental carrying capacity, at present we cannot afford the high-intensity resource consumption and environmental pollution under the traditional economic model. If we continue to follow the traditional economic development path, we will continue to use the development of high consumption, high energy consumption, and high pollution. The model can only slow down the process of China’s modernization. The development of the economy and the protection of the environment are the inevitable contradictions in the traditional economy. To fundamentally resolve this deep-seated contradiction, to fundamentally resolve this deep-seated contradiction, it is necessary to realize the transition from the traditional economy to the circular economy as soon as possible in the development mode. This is China's strategic choice for sustainable development in the 21st century.

President Jiang Zemin pointed out at the second session of the General Assembly of the Global Environment Facility on October 16 that “the natural resources are not inexhaustible, and the demand for human social development continues to grow if these two aspects are not dealt with properly. It will inevitably lead to the deterioration of the ecological environment and will seriously threaten the survival and development of humankind. Only by taking the road of recycling economy based on the most effective use of resources and protection of the environment, can sustainable development be realized." passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on June 29 this year. The "Cleaner Production Promotion Law of the People's Republic of China" puts forward requirements for the development of circular economy from the legal level: "The local people's government at or above the county level should rationally plan the economic layout of the administrative region, adjust the industrial structure, develop a circular economy, and promote enterprises in resources. Cooperate with waste utilization and other areas to achieve efficient use and recycling of resources."

The packaging industry is an important part of the national economy. As one of the symbolic industries for the development of commodity economy, the packaging industry has its positive role in promoting economic and social development, but it is also an industry that consumes resources and pollutes the environment. At present, the annual output of packaging in our country is about 30 million tons. The recovery of packaging products in China is better than that of cartons, beer bottles, and plastic turnover boxes. The recovery rate of other products is quite low, and the recycling rate of the entire packaging products is still not enough. 20% of production. According to this calculation, there are more than 25 million tons of packaging waste produced each year in China. As there is less and less land available for landfilling, so much of the packaging waste cannot be dispelled. As a result, many urban waste sieges are very serious. However, those packaging wastes that cannot be degraded in the environment cannot be disposed of in a timely manner, and people’s environmental awareness is not strong, resulting in serious waste loss. The environmental pollution caused by packaging waste has seriously affected the sustainable development of the social economy. Therefore, how to effectively control the pollution of packaging waste, integrate China's packaging industry into the circular economy, and promote green packaging in an all-round way have become a public concern.

The so-called green packaging refers to the package of goods that is conducive to the protection of human health and the ecological environment. The basic characteristics of green packaging are: under the condition of having a packaging function, the materials should be the least and the packaging waste should be the least; the packaging products are harmless to human health, the waste does not pollute the environment; the packaging materials can be reused or can be recycled The cycle can be degraded and purified under natural conditions. Green packaging requires full consideration of the impact of the entire life cycle of the packaging on resources, energy, and the ecological environment, and strives to degrade the environmental load of packaging materials and achieve a balance and unification of packaging functionality and environmental adaptability.

First, develop and produce new green packaging materials with the concept of clean production

The key to the development of green packaging is the development and production of new green packaging materials, with no or little use of harmful excipients and auxiliaries, starting from the source, so that packaging waste to the environment to a minimum.

(I) Design requirements for green packaging materials

1, environmental safety. It is necessary to consider whether the substances soluble in water, oil, and other solvents are harmful; whether the used auxiliary materials contain toxic metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, etc.; and whether the materials are recycled for the discharge of harmful substances, non-chlorine materials should be used as far as possible.

2. Save resources and energy. Avoid excessive packaging; consider recyclable packaging; extend the life of the material; increase the weight ratio of the contents to the packaging; use low-density packaging materials; try to select materials with low overall energy consumption of the material life cycle.

3, the functionality of packaging materials. To have an effective function of protecting the goods, the deterioration of the functionality and the deterioration or loss of the content is undoubtedly the greatest waste of packaging and content resources and energy. It is necessary to ensure the strength of packaging materials and the sealability of packaging, prevent the loss of packaging contents during transportation, storage, and use, and cause environmental pollution.

4. Recycling of packaging waste. As far as possible, use materials that are currently mature in recycling technology; use degradable, compostable plastics; use packages that can be reused after simple handling; try to select a single material.

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