In the early days of mankind, the rapid economic development was a means of plundering natural resources without hesitation. Humans have also received retribution. The deterioration of the environment, the frequent occurrence of natural disasters, and the anomalies of the climate are all directly threatening human survival. The reason why the packaging of commodities is called "garbage culture" by some people is because it causes a lot of garbage that pollutes the environment. People's sense of urgency has prompted the development of "environmentally friendly" packaging and packaging alternative materials, and the recycling of used packaging. Utilization has developed and formed a new industry.
“Environmental-friendly†packaging is based on whether it can be recycled or not. Nowadays packaging with recycling marks has occupied a large part of the market in Europe and the United States. The recycling mark is metaphorically long, and it consists of three arrows pointing from one side to the other. The first arrow represents recycling of waste packaging, the second arrow represents recycling, and the third arrow represents consumer participation. The three arrows form an endless cycle of eternity.
The publication of the "Declaration of the Human Environment" by the United Nations in 1972 opened the curtain for the "green revolution" in the world. For the packaging industry, “green packaging†is the largest and most impressive packaging revolution in the 20th century. In 1975, Germany took the lead in launching “green packaging†with “green dots†(ie green packaging for product packaging) signs. Green The eco-label is a circular pattern composed of green arrows and door-colored arrows. Two-colored arrows indicate that the product or package is green and can be recycled and used, meeting the requirements of ecological balance and environmental protection. In the following ten years, "green packaging" rapidly developed in countries around the world, and regional and national standards have come out one after another. The "Environmental Declaration" issued by the United Nations in June 1992 attracted the attention of political leaders of various countries. In view of the surging tide of “green waveâ€, in June 1993, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) officially established the “Environmental Protection Committee†and set out to formulate green environmental protection standards. After three years of hard work, the first environmental protection standard IS01400l was officially established in January 1996. In the global implementation.
There are many aspects of the impact of packaging on the environment, and there are many things that are closely related to people's lives, such as the harm caused by the plastic materials themselves to the environment, and the problems that overpacking brings to people. The output of plastic products in China is now ranked among the highest in the world, with an annual output of over 25 million tons. Plastic materials are difficult to degrade naturally, have low recycling rates, have high re-use costs, and damage the ecological environment. Plastic bags (polyethylene) and disposable foam snack boxes (polystyrene), which people call "white trash," have become environmental killers. Once these materials are discarded in the natural environment, they are not only difficult to degrade but also cause damage to the soil. A few days ago (March 1999), the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation announced the first batch of "Closing Outdated Production Techniques and Product Catalogues". Plastic lunch boxes ranked second, and they were all eliminated by the end of 2000. As a substitute, pulp made from straw, bagasse, wheat straw, etc.
Molding came into being. This material can be 100% recycled and naturally degraded in only a few weeks, and it fully meets or exceeds relevant standards in terms of strength, heat resistance, oil resistance, water resistance, disinfection, and tastelessness. These national guidelines, policies, and regulations have practical guiding significance for our packaging designers.
Modern merchandise circulation and transportation networks allow goods to be safely transported anywhere in the world. The globalization of trade has also increased the importance of the packaging industry, maximizing the pursuit of efficiency, and minimizing waste generation as an important responsibility for the packaging industry. Many traders in history have used unfair means to exaggerate packaging or make fake packaging for commercial purposes. They have now deceived consumers. Most countries now have laws and regulations that limit excessive packaging. Like the United States, the Cartes Advertising Law was promulgated as early as 1910, and a strict inspection system for advertisements was launched to stop unlawful and exaggerated advertising. There are also many countries where the law expressly stipulates the ratio between the outer shape of the package and the outer dimensions of the product. If the package exceeds this ratio, a high fine will be imposed to limit the excessive packaging. China has so far no relevant laws and regulations have been issued, and there are still false and excessive packaging on the market from time to time. The waste generated by overpacking is virtually indistinguishable from the discarded goods that result from the breakage of the goods caused by the weak packaging. Recently (in the first half of 2001), according to survey statistics, only 15,000 tons of rubbish per day were generated in Beijing, and an average of 1 kilogram of rubbish was produced per person per day. Of these wastes, 40% come from various kinds of packaging, and 80% of them are garbage generated due to excessive packaging.
The relationship between the packaging industry and the environment is obvious. The packaging industry uses various materials in order to make the goods safely delivered to every family, but most of these materials cannot be discarded. The problem is how to reduce the amount of packaging materials used and how to recycle the packaging materials. This also promotes the development of packaging materials, manufacturing technology, and new packaging methods. If there is a strong but more lightweight cardboard box, the development intensity is high and consumption is high. The development of low paper materials also continues to make progress. The packaging industry is constantly striving to reduce resource consumption.
Designers also play an important role in the development of new products. In the design phase, the life of the packaging must be taken into consideration. The first priority is to protect the goods and use materials to a minimum. Designers should consider how to save consumables and use packaging space effectively, and don't pack unnecessary "air" to achieve the best packaging efficiency.
Designers should also consider the issue of recycling and reuse of their own "design works." In general, reusable packaging is due to the use of high-quality materials that can be reused multiple times, such as dairy packaging, beverage bottles, and beer bottles. However, due to the limitations of the material of the paper itself, the strength of the fiber will be destroyed during use and can only be recycled as raw materials. When the packaging is recycled, some materials will affect the effect of recycling, especially plastic products. Therefore, strict resource classification processing is also very important. The cost of reprocessing the plastic during recycling is higher, and the combustion process also produces harmful gases. Therefore, as a packaging designer, it is necessary to consider a reasonable combination of design materials. Recently, fiber-filled paper pulp has been used as a packaging material. It can achieve the protection of plastic packaging, and is more conducive to recycling. It is a good plastic alternative.
Of course, solving the environmental pollution problem of packaging can only be done by designing the link. To solve this problem, first of all, we must rely on the state to introduce and improve relevant laws and regulations, formulate strict "rules of the game," and increase pollution from packaging to national behavior. Secondly, we must pay attention to the cultivation of environmental protection awareness of the entire people, because the packaging of garbage is produced through the specific behavior of each consumer, and only every citizen has the awareness of environmental protection and basic knowledge of garbage disposal to solve the problem of packaging garbage. Problems can only be realized. Finally, we must rely on the progress of garbage recycling technology to solve this problem. In China, waste recycling has not yet been classified, so the recycling rate of packaging materials is low. Most of the waste disposal is carried out by burning and burying. Recently, due to the serious environmental pollution caused by used batteries, waste battery recycling bins have been set up in many residential areas in large cities. However, according to reports, as China has no good solution to the recycling of used batteries, the old batteries that have been collected have no place to pile up. It can be seen from this that a mature recycling technology is required as a guarantee for solving the problem of packaging waste.
In the future, materials and resources will become more and more deficient, and the prices of raw materials will continue to rise. Recycling waste will become one of the major means of reducing costs. This is for package designers, manufacturers, and even for every consumer. Put forward new requirements and obligations.