Deputy Secretary General of Wuhan Packaging Technology Association Ke Zhuolin Chairman of Wuhan Science and Technology Committee of Packaging Technology Association Recently, we spent a long time on the current development trend of domestic and international packaging industry, specialized inspection and collected from multiple channels. A large amount of relevant information and information, in accordance with the principle of "removal of rough", I summed it into three main aspects for reference.
I. Current development trend of foreign packaging industry According to the information provided by the World Packaging Organization (WPO), at present, the packaging industry ranks the top 10 in the world, and the global packaging industry has a turnover of more than 500 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for global GDP. 1-2%, its composition: paper and cardboard 32%, plastic 28%, metal 24%, glass 6%, packaging machinery 5%, it 5%; global packaging companies have more than 100,000, more than 5 million people in the industry , is a huge industrial army.
As the rapid development of industrial technology (including packaging industry) has brought unprecedented material and spiritual civilization to humanity, it has also brought about more serious negative effects, namely, environmental degradation, lack of resources, and energy shortages. These three major issues have jeopardized To the earth's living space and the survival of human beings, it is bound to hinder the sustainable development of the world economy.
Based on the serious existence of the three major problems mentioned above, countries all over the world, especially the developed countries, are currently adopting corresponding countermeasures and formulating their respective new economic development strategies. In terms of the packaging industry, it can be summarized as “three major development trendsâ€:
(1) A large-scale "green revolution" wave is gradually sweeping the world. This "green revolution" is a major change in the world packaging industry and is also a front-of-attack battle. This is the first life trend in the development of the packaging industry today.
1. The basic meaning of the “Green Revolution†is the “Green Revolutionâ€. It is a major change in the concept, materials, production, and consumption that has been adapted to environmental protection and conservation of resources. Its content is roughly as follows: REDUCE: reduce unnecessary consumption, such as disposable cutlery, no benefit pigments and additives, etc.; REUSE: repair old and waste; RECYCLE: promote renewable products; ECONOMIC: pay attention to economic benefits, Save resources: ECOLOGICAL: pay attention to ecological benefits, do not use products that pollute the environment, destroy nature and wildlife; EGUI-TABLE: Equality and ethical principles, do not use non-ethical marketing and non-human animal testing products.
As far as “green packaging†is concerned, it must comply with the principles of 3R and 1D that protect the environment and conserve resources. That is, green packaging must be made of natural plants and related minerals as a raw material to harmlessly harvest the environment, human and livestock health. , Packages that are conducive to recycling, easy degradation, and sustainable development. That is to say, packaging products should meet the requirements of ecological and environmental protection from the selection of raw materials, manufacture, use, and disposal of products. The specific requirements should meet the following requirements: REDUCE: Reduce material consumption and oppose over-packaging; REUSE: Reusable RECYCLE: Recyclable; DEGRADADLE: Degradable, eliminate white pollution.
In this wave of "green revolutions," foreign companies have also incorporated environmental awareness into the scope of business management, that is, implementing green management. Its content is: RESEARCH: Emphasis on the company's environment, the environmental protection into the company's decision-making; REDUCE: the use of new processes, new technologies, reduce waste emissions; RECYCLE: the use of the product recovery; REDISCOVER: change production The products are green products; RESERVE: Strengthen the environmental protection and conservation of employees.
2. The importance of the “Green Revolution†This “green revolution†is directly related to the fate and development of the future of mankind. Its significance can be summed up as “six benefitsâ€: it is conducive to the protection of the ecological environment; it is conducive to saving the earth. Resources; conducive to the protection of human and livestock health; conducive to the sustainable development of the world economy; conducive to the development of a wider range of natural resources; conducive to the benefit of our children and grandchildren. In a word, destroying the environment and wasting resources means that humans are digging their own graves ahead of time.
3. The "green revolution" is the inevitable result of deteriorating global environment. The global environment is deteriorating due to the destruction of "three wastes (exhaust gas, waste water, and wastes). According to the UN Environmental Agency's 1996 "Earth Day" (April 22) eve The report titled "Action to Take You and Your Community's Environmental Guide" brings together a series of amazing and terrifying figures in all areas of the world:
- The Antarctic ozone hole is expanding at an annual rate of land area in the United States. Affected by ozone holes, solar ultraviolet radiation has long been driven directly into the country, and the incidence of human skin cancer continues to rise;
- The air quality has seriously deteriorated. There are 125 million people in the world living in dirty air;
- Global warming caused by excessive release of greenhouse gases, melting of glaciers, rising sea water levels, making coastal greenland and island countries vulnerable;
- 12% of mammals and 11% of birds in the world are on the verge of extinction, and 150 to 200 species of organisms disappear from the earth every 24 hours;
- There are no domestic sewage discharge devices in the living environment of 1.2 billion people worldwide;
——The annual global soil loss amounted to more than 20 billion tons. The use of chemical pesticides exceeds 27 million tons per year, coupled with the extensive use of various chemical fertilizers, resulting in food crops that are subject to varying degrees of pollution and pose a threat to the human body. There are more than 40 species of fish in the world that are also on the verge of extinction due to human overfishing.
It is predicted that due to the increasing trend of urbanization, energy and water resources crisis will also be caused, and the global population of water shortage will increase to 2.4 billion by 2050, which will seriously restrict the social development of the entire world economy. Calculated again every minute and year: 40 hectares of arable land is lost every minute in the world, 21 million hectares are lost each year; 21 hectares of forest disappears, 11 million hectares disappear every year; 11 hectares of desertification, 5.78 million hectares per year; sewage is discharged into rivers, seas and seas of 850,000 Tons, 446.7 billion tons per year; 28 deaths, 14.72 million deaths each year. How disturbing these numbers are! It can be said that mankind is currently struggling with the death line where ecological environment has been greatly damaged. If we do not control it, humans will unknowingly step into the tombs they have dug. Therefore, the trend of the "green revolution" that is emerging in the world is not only a historical necessity, but also a sensible move for mankind to explore the path of self-survival.
4. The "Green Revolution" series of measures In this "green revolution", take a look at the global situation. Basically, the basic measures are:
- Take joint actions to prevent and control environmental pollution The serious situation of human pollution to the environment, lack of resources, and increasing shortage of energy sources, from the recognition that actions began in the late 1960s. As early as April 1968, more than 30 scientists from all over the world gathered in Rome, the capital of Italy, to discuss the environmental issues of the future of humanity. This was the first major international seminar on ecological crisis and published a research report. On June 5, 1972, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Brazil and issued the "Declaration of the Human Environment". Since then, June 5th has been designated as "World Environment Day." In 1985, given the “ozone hole†phenomenon over Antarctica, world environmental experts signed the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer in Vienna, the capital of Austria. On September 15, 1997, representatives from 137 countries and regions around the world gathered in Montreal, Canada, and passed the "Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer," and on September 15th of each year, they became the "International Environmental Ozone Day." In July 1991, in order to standardize the circulation of existing "green food" and "green signs" in international trade, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) set up the Environmental Strategy Advisory Group (ACGE). In October 1992, it was decided to establish "ISO/TC207" (Environmental Management Technical Committee) established the "TC207 Committee" in Toronto, Canada, on June 8, 1998. Its task was to regulate the development and implementation of a set of international standards for environmental management "ISO1400". The environmental behaviors of all organizations, such as enterprises and social organizations, can save resources and energy, reduce environmental pollution, improve the quality of the environment, and promote the sustainable and healthy development of society and economy. On June 23, 1997, the World Environmental Organization also held a conference at the UN headquarters to discuss the issue of a unified environmental protection action plan in the past five years. In short, the "green revolution" that govern global environmental pollution is becoming the common goal of all countries in the world for common action and common struggle.
——Promoting the "Green Mark" of Product Environment
Since 1978, many industrialized countries have gradually implemented a product “green mark†in international trade in order to protect the environment. 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, or it is prohibited from entering the country. Since 1986, many industrialized countries and the European Community have successively promulgated green regulations such as “Packaging Waste Disposal†and prohibited the entry of packages that do not meet environmental requirements. Many other countries and regions signed 127 environmental agreements with each other, of which 17 contained trade clauses. Legislation containing trade clauses not only restricts or prohibits trade between member countries, but also limits and prohibits violations of laws and regulations among non-member countries. trading. Obviously, green environmental signs, green regulations, and multilateral environmental agreements constitute a new type of non-tariff barrier. Any product that violates environmental protection regulations will seriously affect its competitiveness in the international market. Therefore, in the future market competition, environmentally friendly green products will survive and develop, otherwise they will be eliminated.
- Strengthening environmental protection laws and prohibiting the use of plastic packaging materials that are difficult to degrade and harm the environment. As early as 1988, 21 states in the United States issued a total of 2,332 decrees restricting and disabling certain plastic packaging products. In 1991, Italy banned the use of certain non-biodegradable plastic grocery bags in its territory. Switzerland enacted regulations on packaging regulations in November 1991 prohibiting the production of packaging containers that cannot be recycled. The European Community issued a directive on packaging and packaging waste in 1992. Starting from January 1, 2000, all packaging that cannot be reused or cannot be recycled is excluded from its market. Germany promulgated the “Packaging-V Packaging Waste Disposal†Act in 1991, and took measures to promote the industry to change “PVC†bottles used for packaging into “PET†bottles, and also requested that 80% of PET bottles be recycled. . In the meantime, the use of polyethylene "PE" or polyethylene terephthalate means "PET" type recyclable packaging materials. In addition, Germany imposes environmental taxes on those who use hard-to-degrade plastic packaging. Denmark prohibits the use of disposable beer and beverage containers and prohibits the import of such container-packed beer and beverages. On January 1, 1995, Japan banned the use of plastic packaging materials that could not be recycled.
- Pay attention to the implementation of LCA product evaluation technology LCA life cycle analysis method, it is based on the perspective of systems engineering, including the selection of raw materials, production, processing, transportation, sales, use, reuse or recycling, and ultimately processing, through energy and raw materials The consumption, as well as the identification and quantitative analysis of waste emissions to evaluate the product, an objective assessment of the burden on resources and the environment. This method can eliminate the unfavorable consequences of a one-sided view of the problem. This kind of life cycle analysis method has received increasing attention from countries and international organizations in the world. In the 21st century, this method will play a big role.
—— Focus on the implementation of ISO14000 The international environmental management standard ISO14000 was formulated after considering the environmental standards based on the ISO9000 international management standards, which means that it added environmental protection content. The ISO14000 contains a total of 24 standards, of which 5 were issued in 1997 and all were introduced before 2000. Its promulgation will have a lasting effect on the improvement of environmental management practices of all the world’s industrial, commercial, and government organizations, and will have a profound impact on international trade.
——Enlarging Economic Investment in Environmental Protection Given that environmental protection involves the living conditions of all walks of life and human relationships, it is inextricably linked with industry, transportation, construction, health, agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, deputy fisheries, and fishing. Therefore, all developed countries have actively invested in industries such as banking, finance, insurance, and information, and countries and private parties have made every effort to participate. Transnational corporations have also become active. According to the survey of the World Economic Cooperation and Development Organization