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This year's Singles Day (Nov 11), China's largest e-commerce shopping
spree, saw a record high of 675 million packages delivered. Yet the huge amounts of packaging waste caused by the booming delivery services have raised concerns over environmental impact. According to a new survey over green delivery packaging, nearly 70
percent of respondents said they had never used or received recyclable
packaging. The survey, which rates the performance of China's nine major courier
enterprises in green packaging, was jointly conducted by environmental
NGOs Plastic Free China and Toxics Free China. The report said only three delivery companies, SF Express, JD
Logistics and Suning Logistics, have published the amount of packaging
they recycled. For example, JD said it had recycled 5.4 million packaging boxes
since 2017 when it launched a campaign to reduce packaging waste. Using reusable packaging is an important way to cut packaging waste
from the source, said the report. But only four out of the nine
enterprises surveyed have put recyclable boxes into use or trial use. And the usage of recyclable boxes is limited in scale. For JD
Logistics and SF Express, recyclable boxes only cover less than 0.5
percent of their services, said the report. In terms of the types of packaging recycled, the courier enterprises
mainly recycle cartons whereas plastic packaging has not been included
in their recycling programs. The report said some of the enterprises have been promoting the use
of degradable plastic wrappings or fillers. But due to the lack of a
sound standard system for biodegradable materials, a question mark hangs
over whether the materials should be regarded as an environmentally
friendly solution for reducing packaging waste, according to the report. Courier companies should set quantifiable goals on the reduction of
packaging waste and publish results regularly, said the report. It also
urged the delivery sector to reduce the use of packaging from the source
and avoid using disposable packaging. E-commerce accounts for over 80 percent of China's delivery services,
and thus online e-business platforms should play a leading role in
promoting green packaging in the courier sector, said the report. According to estimates made by the State Administration for Market
Regulation, more than 9 million tons of paper waste and about 1.8
million tons of plastic waste are generated by the delivery sector every
year. Statistics from the State Post Bureau suggest that delivery packaging
waste accounted for 93 percent of the increase in household waste in
China's megacities in the first half of 2018. In June, the State Post Bureau released a guideline to regulate green
packaging. The guideline calls for using recycled and lighter
materials. It also urges enterprises to set up recycling bins at
delivery stations for wrapping. According to a report published by the development and research
center of the State Post Bureau last month, a total of 200 million
wrapping boxes were recycled in the postal and courier sector in 2019
and around 2 million recyclable boxes have been put into use.
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