The function of packaging
Packaging has become an indispensable part of the goods. Without packaging, the functions of commodity circulation and exchange cannot be realized. Unpackaged goods are inconceivable. Even if it is a very small number of so-called shirtless goods, it may not be possible to use packaging in the process of transportation or storage, but instead of using sales packaging.
The rational use of packaging has not only created substantial profits for the producers of goods, but has also brought numerous benefits to consumers. For example, when rice is packed in plastic film bags, especially after being packed in barrier plastic film bags, the shelf life can be increased from about 1 month in bulk to 3 to 6 months or even over 1 year; vacuum mustard and pickles are used after vacuum packaging. The unit price of the product has been greatly increased. Such a small package has the advantages of long storage time and convenient use, and because of its moderate weight, it avoids spoilage of the remaining part after opening, but reduces the economic burden on consumers. It was thus generally welcomed by the community.
The shirtless packaging of traditional agricultural and non-staple food such as pickled mustard and pickles, and the large packaging with a weight of 500 grams or more have become scarcer and some have even disappeared. Many off-site sales of agricultural and sideline products benefit from the development of packaging materials and packaging technology. For example, the fresh lychee, known as the king of fruit, can only be produced in the south of the subtropical region. After enterprises use polystyrene foam to incubate the turnover box, this highly perishable fruit can be shared by people all over the country. Through the above examples, it is not difficult to see that rational use of packaging is essential for improving the competitiveness of products, improving the economic efficiency of enterprises, or better satisfying the needs of society and protecting the rights and interests of consumers. The author believes that the problem is not whether the goods need to be packaged, but how to use packaging properly, that is, to develop and apply green packaging.
Learn from "white pollution"
In the 1990s, the “white pollution†problem that packaging waste represented by disposable foam plastic tableware and other serious environmental hazards to the environment emerged. Because of the good stability of plastic itself, its waste is scattered in the natural world, which not only causes serious visual pollution, but also causes serious harm to the ecological balance. At first glance, the environmental pollution caused by a large amount of plastic waste is due to the fact that plastic packaging is used too much. Therefore, it was suggested that “the use of paper instead of plastic, and wood instead of plastic†prohibits the use of plastic packaging materials. In fact, these views are extremely high. One-sided, it is also very wrong, must pay attention to clarification.
As a new type of synthetic polymer material that came out in the early 20th century, plastic has been favored by all walks of life with its wide variety, excellent performance, convenient molding, and low price. It has penetrated into industry and agriculture for decades. All aspects of national defense, scientific research, and people’s lives are particularly prominent in the application of packaging.
The amount of plastics used in packaging accounts for more than 20% of the total plastic output. Among the packaging materials, the application of plastics is second only to paper products, far surpassing traditional packaging materials such as metal, glass and wood, ranking second.
In the late 1990s, when serious “white pollution†occurred in China, the per capita plastic packaging material usage was only about one kilogram, which was about one-thirtieth that of foreign industrial countries, and China’s “white pollution†was lower than What are the reasons why foreign industrial advanced countries are far behind? The author believes that the main reason is not that our plastic packaging is used too much, but that the general public have a poor sense of the environment. Many people have the habit of throwing litter at random, and the waste recycling network is not sound enough. This is The crux lies.
It is no exaggeration to say that the widespread use of plastic packaging materials is a revolutionary event in the packaging industry. “White pollution†is only a partial and temporary problem that arises during the development of the packaging industry. As long as we do a good job in media propaganda, improve relevant laws and regulations, and strengthen law enforcement, we must be able to put waste packaging materials on the environment through the establishment and improvement of comprehensive measures for the recovery and utilization of waste packaging materials and the use of biodegradable plastics. Minimized to completely eliminate.
"White pollution" has brought serious harm to the environment and brought a huge negative impact on social development. This is a very sad thing, but it also gave us a vivid education lesson. We have realized that human beings can only be well developed if they are kind to the environment and seriously protect the environment. Otherwise, they will be punished by nature.
Correct understanding of green packaging
With the continuous improvement of people’s environmental awareness, green packaging has become more and more popular among people. It can be said to be what the people want and what they want; but so far, quite a lot of people’s understanding of the true meaning of green packaging is still very one-sided or quite vague. . The author believes that the so-called green packaging, in short, is conducive to human sustainable development of the packaging that is green packaging. Specifically speaking, green packaging should have three basic conditions at the same time, namely safety and health, environmental protection and resource conservation. If a package does not have or does not fully meet the above three basic conditions, it cannot be called a green package.
The first is safety and health. Safety refers to the fact that packaging must have a reliable protection function for the packaged goods. It is a basic function that any package must have. It is universal. Hygiene means that the use of packaging must not cause harm to humans and livestock and meet the requirements of relevant hygienic standards. Different commodities have different requirements for the hygienic properties of packaging materials. This requirement is particularly important for foods and drugs.
The second is to protect the environment. The relationship between packaging materials and the environment must be analyzed from the perspective of the life cycle. From the perspective of environmental protection, packaging materials are required to have good adaptability to environmental protection from the beginning of raw materials, to the production, processing and use of packaging materials, and even to the entire waste disposal process (the entire life cycle) after use. The emphasis here is on the whole process, not just on one or some links, that is, on the governance of “white pollution†and to prevent the pollution of packaging waste from the natural environment. It is very important and important for the development of green packaging. aspect. However, as far as the development of green packaging is concerned, it is not enough for the government and the enterprise to grasp only “white pollution†and to handle the disposal of packaging waste.
The third is to save resources. Mainly refers to saving materials and energy, of course, from a deep level, there are also problems of saving human resources.
To carry out green packaging work, we must now pay attention to the following aspects :
Can not be limited to the development of green packaging governance "white pollution." Managing "white pollution" so that packaging waste does not cause harm to the natural environment is an essential condition for carrying out green packaging work; governance "white pollution" is an important aspect of developing green packaging, and governance "white pollution" is also just green packaging. One of the aspects, not the entire contents of the green packaging.
The development of green packaging is a systematic project. It is necessary to seriously study the entire life cycle of the packaging to eliminate the hazards to the natural environment and humans throughout its entire life cycle. Only in this way can we realize the original intention of developing green packaging; Only in this way can we achieve sustainable development for the benefit of future generations.
At the same time we are focusing on the disposal of packaging waste, we must incorporate clean production into the content of green packaging. Particular attention should be paid to the issue of clean production of paper products and plastic products that have a large amount of use and have great impact, and minimize the negative impact of “three wastes†substances on the surrounding environment during the production of packaging materials. For example, companies should use processes that produce no waste materials and consume less energy in the production process, and use solvent-free composite processes, co-extrusion processes, and extrusion-composite processes instead of dry-process composite processes; under current conditions, they must adopt parts. Enterprises that produce poisonous and harmful substances must do a good job of waste management in production, and achieve discharge standards.
Pay attention to the problems in the recycling of packaging waste. Recycling of packaging waste has made great achievements, but there are many problems. We must attach great importance to the problems that exist. For example, the problem of recontamination of the environment caused by the waste water from the washing of packaging waste. The current situation of direct discharge of waste water from packaging wastes without treatment is widespread. On the one hand, packaging wastes are recycled and reused, which reduces the environmental pollution caused by packaging wastes, but at the same time it generates a large amount of waste water, which is environmentally friendly. Pollution may be worse than environmental pollution caused by packaging waste. This method of sacrificing the environment to recycle waste materials is not desirable. At present, the recyclable materials of a large number of packaging wastes of unknown origin are used to make packaging materials that are in direct contact with food. This problem is very serious.
Increase investment in science and technology and continuously improve the environmental adaptability of packaging materials. For those varieties with poor performance and poor adaptability to the environment, such as PVDC with excellent gas barrier properties and good moisture resistance, the effect is remarkable in the packaging of food and medicine, but its adaptability to environmental protection is poor. Poor thermal stability, difficulty in recycling; incineration will produce toxic and hazardous substances such as hydrogen chloride and dioxins; scattered in nature or buried in the ground, it is not easy to degrade.
It is a material with outstanding advantages and disadvantages. For such packaging materials, it is recommended that before they have no better material to replace, they should be controlled and used. When not available, they should not be used as much as possible. Do not use as little as possible. Enterprises should strengthen their research on the recycling and use of packaging waste and harmless disposal methods.
