2. The experience of foreign countries in developing green packaging draws on the protection of the environment and the development of green packaging. It has become the consensus of the packaging industry in many industrialized countries in the world. It has conducted multi-disciplinary research in theory, actively explored in practice, and achieved good social benefits and economy. benefit.
1. Legalization and enhancement of public awareness Most industrialized countries and regions have incorporated packaging and packaging waste management into the legal system. In terms of legislation, major packaging regulations of the European Commission, member states and other countries in recent years include:
European Commission: "Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive", adopted in December 1994.
Germany: The German Packaging Ordinance was passed in 1991 and revised in 1998 according to the "Guidelines for Packaging and Packaging Waste".
United Kingdom: The Packaging Waste Regulation was passed in May 1996.
Austria: The “Packaging Regulations†was passed in October 1992, after which the "Policy Objectives Regulations" were published to supplement them. In 1994, the "Draft Packaging Regulations" was introduced, which more accurately described the points of view of the above-mentioned laws and included the "Guidelines" of European packaging.
France: The "Regulations for Packaging" was enacted in 1993 and the "Transportation Regulations" was enacted in 1994.
Belgium: The "National Ecosystem Law" was passed in July 1993 and came into force in July 1995.
The United States: Each state has its own laws. By 1994, 37 states had enacted regulations for the management of packaging waste. In 1994, more than 100 recycling laws were in force and 77 new proposals were issued.
Japan: The “Energy Conservation and Promotion of Recovery Act†came into force in June 1993 and the packaging law is part of it.
Some countries use the form of voluntary agreements to regulate management.
Canada: The two voluntary agreements drafted by the Canadian Industry and Environment Committee, the National Preferred Packaging Agreement, were passed in March 1990, and the later supplemental agreement, the Canadian Optimal Packaging Regulations.
Australia: The National Packaging Guidelines was published in 1991 and was jointly prepared by the government for representatives from industry, consumer, and environmental protection agencies.
Denmark: "Waste and Recycling Treatment Plan (1993-1997)" published in 1992 by the Danish Ministry of Environment and Industrial Packaging Association. In 1994, the Glass Industry Organization and the Ministry of Environment reached an agreement.
Netherlands: "Dutch Packaging Covenant" is a voluntary agreement signed in June 1991 by different industries and organizations related to the packaging chain and the Dutch government.
In addition to the US state’s own legislation, Australia and Canada’s states (provinces) have their own legislation, such as Queensland’s “Waste Management Strategy (Draft)†(May 1994), Canada’s Andhra Province’s “Three†R" regulations and so on. These countries generally have a vast territory, and their economic and environmental conditions vary widely.
Through legislation, various countries have achieved remarkable results. In Germany, for example, in the end of the 1970s in Germany, packaging waste accounted for about 30% of urban waste, and by the early 1990s it had reached 50%. After the “Packaging Act†and “Circular Economy Law†were issued in succession, manufacturers and sellers of packaged products were required to take responsibility for the entire life cycle of the product, which increased the awareness of producers and sellers to reduce packaging waste, and also changed people’s perceptions. The concept of packaging waste is seen as a renewable resource that can be used. Since 1993, it has reduced the consumption of more than 1 million tons of packaging materials in only two and a half years. On average, 568 kilograms of packaging waste has been collected per person per year; 85% of packaging waste has been recycled. Urban waste generation also began to decline after 1993 and was controlled at 1990 levels.
2. The use of economic instruments to increase the awareness of participation of all citizens The use of economic instruments is another effective measure for industrialized countries to increase public awareness, strengthen their sense of responsibility, and fulfill their due obligations.
In 1993, the United States began to implement a method of charging packing fees from wholesalers (US$2 per item in 1995). In 1996, the State of Florida in the United States stipulated that each packing material could not be remanufactured at a fixed rate of 50% and continue to be collected. Processing fee.
Belgium has developed an “ecological tax†that stipulates that any food packaged with paper and reusable packaging can be tax-exempt; packaging of other materials is subject to tax.
Since 1995, Denmark has banned the use of disposable cans and paid taxes to offenders.
Germany clearly stipulates that anyone who signs a contract with an "ecological company" will be subject to high fines if he does not indicate "green dot" on his own product.
Austria stipulates that there should be a steady increase in the amount of reusable packaging waste from 1993 to 2000, and if it is not fixed, it will pay a high margin.
Switzerland has introduced a system of pre-paid deposits of 0.5 francs for each can and beverage container to ensure the recycling of packaging containers.
All plastic bottles in the Netherlands are subject to a deposit system to ensure recycling.
Many countries in Western Europe use a deposit system. When consumers return used containers to the store, they return the deposit.
In addition to the use of taxation, fines, and other measures, countries have also adopted "blue boxes," "ecological boxes," "eco-bags," paid collections, and establishing typical methods to actively encourage and guide people in the recycling of packages.
Canada launched a "blue box" campaign in Ontario in early 1993. At that time, 80% of households and more than 10 million people participated in the collection and classification of 60,000 tons of recyclable packaging waste. This activity was immediately promoted. National.
Austria has established a recycling system, the most famous of which is the "ecological box" and the "eco-bag". It puts empty beverages and milk boxes inside, and when it is full, it goes to the recycling station. Also, the factory specially sent people to send "eco-tanks" and "eco-bags" to consumers' homes for free, and took away the full boxes and bags so that the amount of waste each year was greatly reduced.
Among the Swedish residents, 80% of the current newspapers have been sent to the recycling station. Almost all Swedes now return beer bottles and soda bottles to stores regularly. More than half of Swedes consciously send paints, batteries and other toxic waste to specialized processing stations on a regular basis. Surveys show that nearly one-third of Swedes are currently actively looking for and buying products with eco-labels. Almost half of Swedes prefer to spend 20% more on environmental protection products.
The United States also implements a “pay-as-you-go†approach to set up automatic glass recycling machines in public places. When empty bottles are put into the machine, the coins are automatically dispensed, the machine crushes the empty bottles, and they are stored in two categories, transparent and colored.
After Queensland of Australia issued the draft "Waste Management Strategy" in 1994, 60% of the residents participated in the waste recycling system project, which created a good living environment for more than 3 million residents. Therefore, the Australian government has shown this state as an example to promote the recycling of packaging waste in the country.
3. Lightweight packaging, implementation of green signs, and development of new environmentally-friendly products (1) Lightweight packaging, opposition to over-packaging, and reduction in the use of packaging materials to reduce the sources of waste are a more positive and fundamental approach to green packaging. The European Community’s response is:
a Controlling the number of packages: Limiting excessive use of packaging materials; Minimizing the number of packaging supplies; Effective use of packaging dimensions; Promoting available packaging supplies, technological development of lighter, stronger new materials, and promoting packaging Concentrate products and promote substitutes and centralized services with less packaging; promote the development and standardization of transport packaging benchmarks for the transportation and distribution of special specification products.
b Improve package quality: limit the density of precious metal in packaging materials, and limit other components (inks, fuels, coatings, adhesives, stabilizers, caps, fibers, etc.); limit halogens and other hazardous substances; from solvents to Water-based transfer, In addition, in addition to the need for inks, polishes, and adhesives in the production process of packaging supplies, the transfer to organic solubility; restrictions on the use of chlorine bleached packaging materials.
c. Packing waste treatment: establish collection and recovery systems, distinguish equipment, and recycle waste packaging products. In particular, in order to facilitate recycling, it is necessary to make necessary changes to the packaging components; if there are regenerated products, if they have the same characteristics as the new products, then All differences between the two should be eliminated during the production process; use of recycled materials suitable for the size of the packaging product is required to facilitate the manufacture of suitable packaging products.
(2) Implementation of the Green Mark Currently, many countries in the world have already enacted relevant regulations and decrees for packaging, and restrict market access for packaging that does not meet the requirements. All products marked with the "Green Mark" indicate that the product has met the requirements of environmental protection from production to use until the final consumer recycling. A product can only obtain a “country permit†to enter the country’s market if it has obtained a country’s environmental label. Otherwise, its entry is forbidden. At present, many countries and regions have signed 127 environmental agreements with each other. Among them, 17 contain trade clauses. Legislation that contains trade clauses not only restricts or prohibits trade between member countries, but also restricts and prohibits trade of non-member countries that violate regulations. Obviously, green environmental signs, green regulations, and multilateral environmental agreements constitute a new kind of tariff barrier. Any product that violates environmental protection regulations will seriously affect its competitiveness in the international market.
(3) Development and development of new products that are beneficial to the environment In order to protect the environment and reduce and eliminate pollution caused by packaging, many industrialized countries in the world actively develop new pollution-free green packaging materials and new products, and change or replace the traditional packaging. . The German government banned polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic bottles in 1991, requiring the beverage industry to use only polyethylene (PE) or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recyclable packaging materials, and required 80 % PET bottles recycled for reuse. According to the announcement of the World Packaging Organization Council, European countries have completely banned PVC packaging materials in 1992. Western European countries have banned the use of foamed plastics in the packaging of imported products, which are difficult to degrade in the environment. In many countries in the European Union, electronic products and daily necessities are mostly packaged in recyclable pulp molded packaging; supermarkets and many other stores are no longer providing free plastic bags.
The United States has taken the lead in developing new products and new products that are environmentally friendly. U.S. Polymer Films, using wheat as its main raw material, has successfully developed and developed an edible packaging new material, bran, which looks similar to a plastic film and can package foods and medicines using standard packaging equipment and heat sealing equipment. Can be eaten together with the packaged food and medicine. Japan is not only good-looking and practical for packaged foods, but whether it is beneficial to environmental protection is an important issue for the packaging industry. Now Japanese traders are trying to use raw materials that are not polluting the environment when packaging food, and replace plastic containers with paper packaging. Recently, the Fuji Industrial Technology Center in Shizuoka Prefecture has also developed a new environmentally friendly technology that combines degradable plastics with paper.
4. Strengthen recycling of packaging waste (1) Implementation of legislation, determination of recycling targets and plans to strengthen the recycling of packaging waste, is an important link in the development of green packaging in industrialized countries. Every country attaches great importance and has issued corresponding laws and regulations. Regulations, establish corresponding organizations, and determine specific implementation goals.
The U.S. government established a resource recovery system in 1970, and the U.S. states have also established corresponding systems. The "Recycling Waste Treatment" Regulations formulated by Denmark clearly stipulates that recycling of packaging waste is the first priority, and incineration and power generation are the second. The “Energy Conservation and Promotion Recovery Act†formulated by the Japanese government emphasizes the selective collection of recyclable packaging waste and the production of recyclable packaging products. The “Packaging Regulations†developed by Austria require producers and sellers to receive and collect transportation packages, used packaging and sales packages for free, and require that 80% of the recycled packaging resources be recycled and recycled. Canada's "Packaging Agreement" and "Canadian Optimal Packaging" clearly stipulate that it is necessary to reduce the use of packaging materials and enhance the recycling of packaging waste. The Dutch “Contract for Packaging†stipulates that the consumption of packaging materials must be reduced and regulations