my country's annual carbon emissions of express packaging are greater than 20 million tons, and the reduction of express packaging and circular demand has caused new thinking on business formats
September 30, a reporter learned from the Sinopec News Office that Sino Petroleum and Chemical Corporation officially released the "Research Report on the Green Packaging Carbon Emission Reduction Potential of China Express Industry" to the public. The report shows that in 2020, the total carbon emissions of China's express packaging during the production and waste treatment stages in the entire process were 23.9584 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. If there is no circulation or replacement of disposable plastic bags generated by the express delivery industry, the cumulative carbon emissions of disposable plastic bags in my country's express delivery industry will reach 59.61 million tons from 2021 to 2030. In recent years, Sinopec has been committed to exploring the reduction of carbon emissions in the express delivery industry by promoting the recycling of plastic packaging materials.
The report was jointly launched by China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Department, China Petroleum and Chemical Sales Co., Ltd., China Petroleum and Chemical Engineering Science Research Institute, Tongji University Institute of Ecological Civilization and Circular Economy, and Zhejiang Yangtze River Delta Circular Economy Technology Research Institute.
The report shows that the business volume of express delivery service companies nationwide reached 83.36 billion pieces in 2020, an increase of nearly 70% compared with 2018. With the increase in express delivery volume, the carbon emissions of express delivery packaging are becoming increasingly prominent. In 2020, China's total carbon emissions of express packaging were 23.9584 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. These carbon emissions require planting trees equivalent to the land area of Beijing to offset them. But at present, most plastic express packaging is landfilled or incinerated with domestic waste.
The report shows that promoting the application of recycled packaging plastics can not only effectively control the production of plastic waste, but also reduce carbon emissions caused by express packaging materials. However, in recent years, when my country piloted the promotion and application of express recycling packaging, there are still some problems such as the inability to form a closed loop, the lack of mandatory policies, and consumer habits still need to be formed. The implementation of
circular express packaging is a systematic project. The report recommends that, first of all, the industrial chain and ecological chain should be formed, and the problem of circular express packaging should be considered in combination with garbage classification and plastic reduction and plastic restriction policies. Secondly, express packaging waste should be included in the construction system of local garbage classification and renewable resource recycling for governance. Local governments should take the lead as the link "center" of all parties in the industrial chain, based on resource utilization, and promote the standardization and standardization of the operation paradigm of circular express packaging collaboration and sharing mechanisms. Again, it is recommended to implement the "one-time packaging fee policy + circular packaging deposit system" to solve the problem of "difficulty in recycling" of circular express packaging. Finally, enterprises with outlet systems will support them to become urban public environment service providers, such as express company online stores, large petrochemical enterprise gas stations, etc.
