1, green packaging

The green packaging concept emphasizes the coordinated development between packaging and environmental protection and resource regeneration. Since the formulation of the “International Environmental Protection Program”, many developed countries have successively formulated a series of laws and regulations concerning environmental protection and green packaging, and clearly stated that the prohibition or restriction of the use of styrofoam plastics, etc. can easily cause white pollution, and is not conducive to environmental protection. Packaging materials, while requiring packaging waste can be recycled. This poses a serious challenge to traditional packaging and makes green packaging an inevitable trend in the world packaging industry.

Packaging refers to the general term of containers, materials, and auxiliary materials used to protect products, facilitate storage and transportation, and promote sales in accordance with certain technical methods. Green packaging is the supplement and development of packaging, with green packaging materials as the main line, highlighting the role of environmental protection and resource regeneration.

Green packaging, also known as environmental friend packaging or ecological packaging, means no pollution to the ecological environment, no harm to human health, recycling, recycling, and packaging that promote sustainable development.

In addition, according to the green food grading standards, green packaging is classified into A-level green packaging and AA-level green packaging. Grade A green packaging means that waste can be reused, reused or degraded, and the toxic substances contained within the prescribed limits are properly packaged. AA grade green packaging means that waste can be reused, reused, recycled, recycled and used, and it will not cause harm to the human body and the environment during the entire life cycle of the product, and appropriate packaging of toxic substances within the specified limits.

Green packaging is a closed ecological cycle circle that conforms to the laws of nature. The packaging materials used are of natural origin. Green products are formed through pollution-free processing. After use, they can be discarded and recycled, or returned to nature, or recycled to form packaging materials. Life cycle. The entire packaging process is green in the green environment to form green products, and then green recycling and regeneration constitute a true green cycle.

Green packaging is based on the premise that it does not pollute the environment and protect human health. It takes the full use of renewable resources and protects the ecological environment as its development direction. Green packaging should meet the "4R + 1D" guidelines, namely Reduce: reduce the use of packaging materials, opposed to excessive packaging; Reuse: reusable; Recycle: renewable recycling; Recover: can use packaging waste for energy or fuel; Degradable: Degradable corrosion, help eliminate white pollution.

2, green packaging system

The system is an organic whole consisting of several interacting and interdependent elements. It has such basic characteristics as integrity, purpose, relevance, dynamics, and adaptability. The green packaging system is a system that collects raw materials to produce packaging materials, and then forms packaging products through packaging and printing processes. When the use of packaged products is completed, the recycling of waste is a subsystem in the environmental protection system. Figure 1 depicts the various subsystems and their relationships included in the green packaging system.
The green packaging system mainly includes the following five links: (1) National laws and regulations that ensure the implementation of green projects. (2) Green packaging design, including design goals, design systems, and design principles. (3) Selection, processing, and application of green packaging materials. (4) Recycling of green packaging waste. (5) Green Package Evaluation.

3, recycling of packaging waste

Packing waste refers to the function that loses or completes the original value and use value of the contents, and becomes a packaging container, material, and auxiliary material for which solid waste is discarded. According to research data from the Gallup Institute for Public Opinion in the United States, plastics account for 72% of environmental waste, 8% for glass, 9% for metals (mainly steel and aluminum), 4% for paper, and 1% for others. Unknowns account for 6%. Paper packaging waste can rot for 7 days under proper conditions. It usually takes several years. Plastic packaging waste can take hundreds of years.

Recycling is an active packaging waste treatment method that addresses environmental pollution, saves resources and energy, and promotes recycling of packaging materials. The recycling of packaging waste is an important indicator for evaluating green packaging, and it is also a hot research topic in the field of green packaging. The recycling of packaging waste should start from the source, firstly avoid the emergence of packaging waste, and fundamentally solve the hazards of packaging waste to humans and the environment. Germany implements comprehensive treatment of packaging waste according to procedures such as avoidance, collection, classification, utilization, incineration, and stacking.

Recycling packaging waste and developing new resources and materials are the most effective ways to solve the problem of pollution of packaging waste. Recycling of packaging waste such as plastics, paper, glass, and metals has resulted in some research results, such as:

· Plastic packaging waste recycling. (1) Landfilling; (2) Incineration; (3) Composting; (4) Recycling; (5) Substitution methods (eg biodegradable plastics, pulp molded products, environmentally friendly tableware, etc.).
·Recycling of paper packaging waste. (1) Recycled papermaking; (2) Development of new products such as pulp molded products, corrugated board, paper chip paste, livestock feed, etc.
·Recycling of glass packaging waste. (1) Reuse and reuse; (2) Return to furnace regeneration: (3) Develop new products such as glass-ceramics, foam glass, glass beads, glass fiber, building materials, road surface layered materials, and glass fertilizers.
·Recycling of metal packaging waste. (1) Reuse and reuse; (2) Develop new products such as aluminum pellets, aluminum powder, and polyaluminum chloride.

4, green packaging materials

Packaging material is the material basis for the formation of product packaging, and is the carrier for all functions of commodity packaging. Green packaging material is the material basis of green packaging, which has the advantages of resource conservation, environmental protection, etc., and meets the development trend of international packaging industry material applications.

Green packaging materials should have the basic properties of traditional packaging materials, such as protection, processability and packaging and printability, and should have outstanding characteristics that are different from the traditional packaging materials, that is, no pollution to human health and ecological environment, Its waste is easy to recycle and reuse. The cost-effectiveness of green packaging materials is also an important characteristic that needs to be considered. The use of cost-effective packaging materials will help improve the quality and economic benefits of packaging products.

In accordance with the environmental protection and ownership of materials after use, green packaging materials can be roughly divided into three categories:
(1) Recyclable remanufactured materials: paper, cardboard, pulp molded products, metals, glass, linear polymer materials (plastics, fibers), and degradable polymer materials.
(2) Materials that can naturally weather and return to nature: paper products, degradable materials, edible materials.
(3) Materials that can be burned to recover energy without polluting the atmosphere: some composite materials, some linear polymers, and bulk polymers.

At present, the key research contents of green packaging materials include:
· Honeycomb paperboard, pulp molded products, corrugated paper composite boards, high-strength corrugated board, plant fiber products.
Degradable plastics (such as photodegradation, biodegradation, photo/biological double degradation, oxidative degradation, hydrolytic degradation, etc.), natural polymer materials, edible packaging materials for food packaging, calcium plastic corrugated boxes, plastic/wood composites material.
· Eco-friendly inks (such as high-performance water-based inks).

Source: PACK.CN