Due to resource, technical, and economic constraints, it is impossible to completely use natural or edible substances as packaging materials. China is still coexisting with four major packaging materials. Therefore, the recycling of packaging waste has become one of the green packaging projects. The pivotal link must be coordinated with the development of green packaging materials in order to help solve the global shortage of resources and environmental pollution.
The most effective way to recycle packaging waste is to collect and dispose of wastes. Germany, Japan, the United States, and other developed countries have recycled, processed, and commercialized the packaging wastes [4]. In contrast, at present, the recycling of packaging waste in China is still far from scale, and it has not entered the stage of industrialization and science and technology. In many places, waste recycling is still confined to the self-distribution of individual buyers. Although garbage collection and recovery have been implemented in some large cities, people’s awareness of waste recycling and environmental awareness are still weak in the majority of small and medium-sized cities and rural areas. Various packaging wastes have not yet been effectively recycled, but are randomly Discarded in rivers, lakes, mountains and fields, causing great waste of resources and serious environmental pollution. Table 1 shows the comparison of the recycling situation of packaging waste between Europe and the United States and China at the end of the 20th century. From the data of the recovery rates of the four packaging materials shown in the table, we can see that China’s current waste recycling work is obviously inadequate. The recovery rate of paper is only 20%, plastic recovery is about 10%, glass is about 20%, and total metal recovery is less than 1%. At the same time, with the rapid growth of China's economy, the output of packaging products is again on the rise [3]. This will inevitably cause resource shortages and increase environmental pollution. In a sense, the lag in recycling packaging waste has become a constraint. The bottleneck of the development of China's green packaging industry.
Table 1 Comparison of the recycling rate of packaging waste in countries around the world at the end of the 20th century
National Recovery Paper Glass Plastic Metal (Aluminum cans as an example)
China 20% 20% 10% Less than 10%
United States 60% - 50% More than 75% Western Europe - 30. 5% 60% (Germany) -
Japan 80% 50% 28% 40%
3 Countermeasures and Measures
3. 1 Establish a professional recycling company to increase the recycling of various types of packaging products
In view of the current unreliability of packaging waste recycling in China, it is necessary to set up a specialized recycling company that is responsible for the use of specialized agencies, and to use advanced equipment and technologies to recycle and process all kinds of packaging waste separately to form recycling, disposal and recycling. Virtuous circle and one-stop service.
China is a country with a lack of forest resources. The recovery rate of paper products is low, and the demand for papermaking raw materials is increasing every year. Deforestation as a papermaking raw material for a long time will lead to a crisis in resource and ecological balance. In fact, although the demand for paper products is large, the recovery is relatively easy. After preliminary steps of classification, disintegration, deinking, and cleaning and separation of the ink, it can be reused as a slurry for papermaking, which can save a limited number of forests. Resources, the key to implementing this resource reuse lies in the effective recycling of paper packaging.
Plastic products are far more cost-effective than other materials and can better meet the needs of developing countries and economies. Therefore, they have a large share in packaging products, but lower recycling rates will cause serious environmental pollution. At present, only a small amount Rigid plastic packaging containers are sold outside the waste collection station, and the largest consumption of plastic bags is discarded at will. Although the country promotes the use of biodegradable plastic bags in large supermarkets, hawkers in the vegetable market are still prevalent for personal economic interests. The use of non-degradable ordinary plastic bags, due to the large amount of plastic packaging products, recycling process is more complicated, if you do not implement standardized waste management, it is difficult to effectively improve its recycling efficiency.
Glass has an irreplaceable advantage in the packaging of liquid products, and it is very important to recycle it. It can be recycled and reused after cleaning, sterilization, remelting and converting directly into other uses, not only shortening the production cycle, but also Can save a lot of money and power consumption. However, in addition to the high recovery rate of glass products in some advanced countries, many countries, including China, have done very poorly in this regard and urgently need to establish incentives and penalties to increase recycling efforts.
Although the amount of metal packaging is limited, but because there is no substitute, it is indispensable in the packaging products, except for some large industrial storage tanks, the daily consumption is the largest cans, toothpaste, cans, food boxes and paint cans, toothpaste The skin is now being gradually replaced by plastics. Due to the chaotic recycling of metal products in China, the recovery rate is low.
3.2 Implementation of rewards and penalties system to cultivate consumer awareness of packaging waste recycling
The key to the recycling of packaging waste is the effective classification and recovery of waste. The premise for realizing this goal is that consumers can consciously participate in consciously recognizing the importance of recycling packaging waste for environmental protection and resources. In today's weak awareness of the majority of the population in our country, in addition to increasing publicity efforts, it is necessary to adopt some feasible incentive measures and even legal means to help people establish environmental awareness. In this regard, developed countries have successful experiences that can be used for reference. For example, the pre-paid deposit system for plastic bottles in Switzerland and the Netherlands enables the recycling of packaging wastes to be linked to the direct economic benefits of consumers. Consciously involved in waste recycling awareness and habits.
3. 3 Minimize unnecessary packaging material consumption and eliminate excessive packaging
Excessive packaging not only results in the waste of packaging materials, the complexity of processes, the increase of waste recycling load, but also increases the prices of commodities, which are harmful to resource conservation, environmental protection, and consumer interests. Especially in the absence of such a resource as ours, most people’s lives are not yet affluent, and people’s awareness of waste recycling is still weak. Businessmen should not use excessive packaging to induce consumers to blindly pursue the appearance of luxury goods. This is implemented in China. The packaging project should be given enough attention.
4 Conclusion
The green packaging of goods is an irreversible development trend, and it is also a complex system engineering. The use of green packaging materials and effective recycling are the two most important links. Only the development and application of packaging materials and the recycling of recycling materials are simultaneously developed. Only in order to achieve a true green cycle.
