Packaging Legislation On June 5, 1972, the United Nations issued the "Declaration of the Human Environment". On June 5, 1973, the first "World Environment Day" was held in various countries around the world. Since then, environmental protection has become one of the major themes of history concerning human development.
In terms of global environmental protection legislation, Europe has always been at the forefront of the world. In the "Dublin Declaration" with the theme of environmental protection, Western European countries have first formulated relevant laws and regulations. The 1991 German Packaging Act, the Dutch "Packaging Covenants", the Austrian "Packaging Regulations" of 1992, the "European Environmental Regulations EM AS" of 1993, the "Packaging Law" of France, the "National Ecological Law" of Belgium, 1994 In France, the "Packaging Waste Transport Law", the Austrian "Regulations for the Implementation of the Packaging Law", the 1995 "Recycling Economy Law and the Waste Law" in Germany, and the "Package Waste Regulations" in the United Kingdom in 1996, etc. .
Responding to Europe, the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Brazil, Colombia and other countries and regions have also first formulated the relevant laws and regulations for packaging. In 1993, Japan introduced the "Recycling Resources Utilization Promotion Law." In 1997, the "Container Packaging and Recycling Law" was announced. Related industries also set up environmental protection organizations and formulated regulations and regulations. For example, the packaging container recycling mark issued by the Japan Mechanical and Electrical Industry Association in 1993. It makes a lot of sense that the earth is protected like a pearl. The United States also has its own characteristics. Each state has its own laws and regulations. By 1999, 45 states had established more than 200 laws and regulations such as packaging waste management regulations.
Environmental Certification The certification system for environmental protection packaging is ISO14000. This environmental management certification is called the “green passport†approved by the international field. Currently, most countries in the world use this as the standard to promote the environmental protection packaging model. The ISO14000 series expressly states that all internationally purchased products (packages) must undergo environmental certification and ecological assessment (LCA) and use environmental labels.
Europe is implementing and improving green certification policies and regulations. Currently, eight countries have begun to implement the green certification system. Products without environmental management certification will be subject to quantity and price restrictions when they are imported.
The "Green Dot" logo In 1975, the world's first green packaging "Green Dot" logo appeared in Germany. It is a circular pattern consisting of green arrows and white arrows. The upper text consists of German DER GRUNE PUNKT, which means " Green point." The green dot's two-color arrow indicates that the product or package is green and can be recycled and used, meeting the requirements of ecological balance and environmental protection. In 1977, the German government launched the “Blue Sky†green environmental protection label and granted products and packaging with green features.
Germany uses the "Environmental Mark", Canada, Japan, the United States, Australia, Finland, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Italy, Britain and other countries also began to implement the environmental labeling of product packaging. Such as Canada's "Maple Pigeon", Japan's "Love the Earth", the United States' "Natural Friendly" and Certificate System, China's "Environmental Protection Mark", the European Community's "European Flower", Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, etc. White Swans of the Nordic countries, the "NF" logo of France, the "Eco-label" of Austria, the "Eco-logo" of India, the "Eco-label" of South Korea, the "Green Mark" of Singapore, and the "Environmental Choice of New Zealand" "The "Eco-Products" of Portugal and "Environmental Friendly" of Croatia are all representatives.
Countries around the world have also formulated green product labels, but the names of various countries’ ecolabels are not the same. For example, the “EPA mark†of the United States, the “EV system†of Canada, the “ecological standard system†of Japan, the “NF environment†of France, etc. Wait. At present, the most successful eco-labels in the world are Germany's BLUE ANGEL and Japan's ECO MARK.
At present, Germany has developed eco-labels for 81 categories of products. The signs used in the batch cover 61 categories and a total of more than 4,300 kinds of products; while the number of products that use eco-labels in Japan amounts to more than 2,300 types. Many countries have implemented eco-labels, and eco-labels have become more and more familiar to consumers. For example, opinion polls in Japan show that 53% of consumers know ecolabels; a survey conducted in Singapore shows that more than half of them recognize the green mark; in Canada, the number of people who know the national ecolabel has increased from the original 19%. 51%; In Norway, the number of people who knew the WHITE SWAN logo increased from 12% to 66%.
Packaging Waste Disposal and Recycling The objective and requirements of environmentally friendly packaging go through the entire process of product design, production, packaging, and sales, and until waste utilization and recycling. Environmentally-friendly packaging requires that the packaging waste of the product meet the requirements for recycling, recycling, harmlessness, non-pollution, and environmental protection. At present, the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, Japan, France and other developed countries have formulated corresponding regulations and policies for the treatment and recycling of packaging waste.
In 1988, garbage was packed in France. In 1990, garbage was widely distributed in Europe. In 1981, the Danish government’s increase in the number of empty containers for beverage containers would have a negative impact. First, the “Recycling and Recycling of Packaging Containers Act,†prohibiting the use of disposable beer and beverage containers, and prohibiting the import of such containers of beer and Drink.
In June 1990, the European Community held a conference in Dublin to put forward the idea of ​​"enhanced environmental protection" and formulated the "Transportation Law for Wastes", which stipulates that packaging waste cannot be shipped to other countries, and countries should take responsibility for waste. In 1991, Germany issued the “Packaging Waste Disposal†Act to take measures to promote the industry to convert PVC bottles used for beverages into PET bottles. It also requires that 80% of PET bottles be recycled. In addition, Germany imposes environmental taxes on those who use hard-to-degrade plastic packaging. (To be continued)
