Green home appliance packaging, when it is in line with international standards

On February 13 this year, the European Union announced the “Decrease of Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive” and the “Decree on the Prohibition of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment”, which put forward higher environmental protection requirements for the manufacture of electrical and electronic products. According to industry insiders, the EU's two directives will affect about 270 billion US dollars in domestic exports of about 27 billion US dollars, the impact on the home appliance industry will be a revolutionary.
In the 21st century advocating for green, environmental protection will become the most basic requirement for home appliances based on the market. Home appliances are just like this, and home appliance packaging is also exceptional. On the occasion of the World Environment Day, the reporter interviewed Liu Fuzhong, vice chairman of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association, and asked him to comment on the environmental protection issues of home appliance packaging at home and abroad.
When does green appliance packaging meet international standards?
European Union Decree: Catalyst for Green Packaging In response to the European Union laws and regulations focused on by the domestic media in the earlier period, Deputy Director Liu believes that the two EU directives are aimed at raw materials and accessories for televisions, computers, air conditioners and other products. Said that, in the adhesive, printing inks, paints and other packaging accessories targeted more. He drew the attention of relevant domestic companies, in particular, they should not easily stick to six kinds of harmful substances, such as lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated diphenyl ether, and polybrominated biphenyls, which are restricted by the EU, so as not to lose their weight.
Liu, vice chairman of the board of directors, believes that the two EU decrees introduced at the beginning of the year will accelerate the environmental protection of the global electronics industry. It is undoubtedly a strong catalyst for China's home appliance products and packaging to be on the "green" track. He said that green packaging is in line with the world's green consumer trend, which is conducive to breaking through the international green barriers. At the same time, it will play an active role in reducing the rate of breakage of goods in circulation and improving the quality of packaging products. It will face good development opportunities. And huge market space. In response to the growing international environmental protection, the reporter asked Vice Chairman Liu to introduce advanced measures for home appliance packaging in foreign countries. "No container packaging" - an example of green packaging According to Liu, the vice chairman, at present, some developed countries are vigorously advocating "moderate" packaging in an effort to reduce packaging. For example, as early as 1990, Conneg. State of the United States put forward a bill requiring the reduction of "moderate packaging" in the packaging of goods; the German government in the relevant regulations requires industrial enterprises to reduce the use of packaging materials and use environmentally-friendly materials; Japan also vigorously Promote reduced packaging to save raw and auxiliary materials and reduce packaging waste.
In the specific operation, foreign plastic flexible packaging is in the ascendant trend. Many large-scale home appliances are packaged with the upper and lower parts of the package with a hard package to support the fixed, the external use of high-strength transparent plastic film; many small household appliances such as recorders, DVD The packaging of such products uses vacuum blister packaging. This "non-container packaging" is one of the models of green packaging. It aims at products that only need to protect their edges and corners, and do not need to be integrally packaged, and use paper profiles as Its edge protection, corner protection, top protection, bottom protection and other protective packaging materials, so that its environmental protection, cost, commercial promotion, etc. can be comprehensively embodied, opened up a new way to reduce packaging.
Extending the life cycle of packaging products through design During the interview process, it was the discussion of foreign packaging design and environmental protection by Vice Chairman Liu that left a deep impression on reporters.
The packaging design of the early stage is relatively important to environmental protection. Vice Chairman Liu said that the packaging design does not seem to go hand in hand with environmental protection. In fact, there is a profound mystery. To develop green packaging, we must start from the source. When designing packaging, we must first consider whether the packaging can save resources, whether it can be recycled and recycled, and optimize the final recycling process.
According to him, some foreign companies have now succeeded in packaging design of small household appliances. In the early stage of packaging design, these companies paid great attention to the humanization and art of product packaging. They usually used a combination of psychological, marketing, cultural, aesthetic and other factors to carefully design their product packaging, and took good environmental protection from the source. first round. For example, the outer packaging is made into artistic designs such as flower baskets, accessories, penguins and ducks, which not only enriches the connotation of the product, but also can be used as a home decoration, and fully complies with the packaging product life cycle analysis (LCA), which greatly delays The recycling cycle is a good example of environmental protection.
The structural design of home appliance packaging is equally important in foreign countries. In the early stages of design, they fully considered the recycling of packaging, such as the handling of rivets and nails, the dismantling of packaging, etc. Packaging designed based on this consideration simplified many The later process ensures the smooth implementation of recycling. What impress people is the "bamboo-style" home appliance packaging abroad. This type of packaging is mutually exclusive, easy to install, easy to install, and easy to recycle. The environmental protection concept of the design is fully reflected.
let us start doing something!
Comparing the advanced practices of foreign green packaging for home appliances, what specific work has been done in the environmentally friendly packaging of home appliances in China? In the interview, the reporter learned that:
The government department is in action!
In recent years, the state has done a lot of work in packaging legislation, such as the "Solid Waste Pollution Prevention Act". This year, the state will focus on the promotion of clean production and the development of environmental protection industries. It will fully implement the "Cleaner Production Promotion Law," and study and formulate the "Administrative Measures on the Recall of Compulsory Recyclable Products and Packaging Materials." The relevant state departments will also issue relevant regulations to integrate packaging and environmental protection into the legal system. In addition, the principle of who is responsible for pollution and who will pay will be used to clarify the obligations of manufacturers, retailers, and consumers, set up specialized disposal agencies that meet the technical standards, and establish a socialized recycling service system.
Home Appliances Association is in action!
At present, the China Household Electrical Appliances Association is also brewing the relevant documents on the safety and environmental protection of home appliances. Vice Chairman Liu told reporters that the former State Economic and Trade Commission had filed this case and that the State Economic and Trade Commission had taken the lead after approval by the State Council, including more than a dozen ministries and commissions including the Ministry of Finance, the State Environmental Protection Administration, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, and the Ministry of Information Industry. The "Leadership Coordination Group for Establishing a Waste and Home Appliances Recycling System" was formed, but this work was temporarily postponed due to institutional reforms of the State Council. However, he said that the introduction of relevant policies will be the trend of the times and many details are already in place, some of which may be possible. Involving packaging.
Enterprises should also take action!
In view of the various trade and technical barriers that are currently being or will be faced by China's home appliance products, the industry's leading companies have begun to take the lead, actively respond and take the initiative. In the past year or two, Haier, Changhong, Gree, Midea, Kelon, etc. have started to use environmental protection materials such as honeycomb paperboard and pulp molding from point to floor; TCL, Chunlan, Galanz, Little Swan and others are also using various green technologies. Package materials for research, testing and trial. Leading industry leaders in the industry will lead the healthy development of home appliance packaging. Vice President Liu called on the majority of SMEs to take actions to accelerate the green process of packaging and to take the initiative for their future development.
Vice Chairman Liu finally pointed out that the 21st century will be a green century, green packaging will become the mainstream of the world packaging, and a full-scale entry into the environmental protection industry may be the second major opportunity for the packaging industry to win. At present, the green packaging industry in China's home appliances has just started. In the future, China's home appliances will enter the era of green environmental protection after completing the research on technology and marketing, and green packaging will certainly become the future direction of home appliance packaging.