Shanghai Green Packaging Selection Measures: Lifecycle, Scope and Procedures

【Industry Note】As the economy expands, packaging has grown quickly—yet overpackaging is putting more pressure on resources and the environment. Green printing is now a key route for the sector. Shanghai is preparing a green packaging selection program to support this shift.

Article 1: To build a green packaging system defined by environmental protection, safety and hygiene, and resource conservation—and to help green packaging and related companies strengthen their brands and expand green packaging use—Shanghai has issued these selection measures for its green packaging program;

Article 2: Applicants for Shanghai Green Packaging must use lifecycle analysis and meet criteria for environmental protection, safety and hygiene, and resource saving;

Article 3: The packaging should offer strong practicality and market competitiveness, and once adopted at scale, deliver solid social and economic value;

Article 4: Participation in Shanghai Green Packaging is voluntary;

Article 5: In principle, the Shanghai Green Packaging selection runs one to two times per year.

Chapter II: Selection Scope and Conditions

Article 5: Scope of the green packaging selection:

The program covers green packaging made and used in Shanghai, as well as packaging made elsewhere but used in Shanghai. Eligible categories may include food, pharmaceutical, daily chemical, home appliance, and transport packaging, plus packaging materials and additives. All must align with green packaging principles, as follows:

1. Resource-saving packaging materials, such as filled plastic packaging compounds with inorganic powder;
2. Packaging materials whose waste can be recycled and is already being effectively recovered, such as PET bottles, paper bags, and cartons;
3. Degradable packaging materials, such as degradable plastic packaging and molded pulp packaging products;
4. Packaging made from recovered materials, such as refuse bags made from recycled PE and synthetic-wood storage and transport pallets made from recycled PE;
5. Packaging that can be reused and has already been reused effectively;
6. Cleaner-production additives for packaging, or eco-friendly additives, such as solvent-free adhesives, water-based adhesives, water-based inks, and packaging made with them;
7. Projects with clear results in packaging reduction and packaging reuse;

Article 7: Applicant companies must follow strict quality standards, maintain a corresponding quality assurance system, and keep product quality stable;

Article 8: Applicant companies must operate lawfully and honestly and maintain a good public image.

Article 9: The following packaging products and companies are excluded from the selection:

1. Those using national resources as raw materials;
2. Those whose three-waste discharges in production do not meet standards;
3. Overpackaging that clearly conflicts with the principle of moderate packaging;
4. Packaging that cannot be reused or recycled, and whose waste harms the natural environment;
5. Food packaging that fails national hygiene standards, or lacks national standards and cannot provide evidence of meeting FDA or other relevant requirements;
6. Recycling or utilization that creates secondary environmental pollution; or recovered materials used unreasonably in packaging that directly contacts food or pharmaceuticals.

Chapter III: Application Procedures

Article 10: Application procedure for Shanghai Green Packaging

Packaging companies apply directly to the Green Packaging Committee of the Shanghai Packaging Technology Association;

Article 11: Content and requirements for application materials:

1. Complete every field of the Shanghai Green Packaging Application Form;
2. Submit one written document introducing the company's green packaging, covering the production process, product features, application fields and precautions, social and economic benefits, and actual application results in a concise, comprehensive way.

The document should be well organized, clearly structured, concise, and focused. Its length—including abstract, keywords, main text, and references—should be around 5,000 characters, and generally no more than 7,000 characters.

Chapter IV: Selection of Shanghai Green Packaging

Article 12: The Green Packaging Committee of the Shanghai Packaging Technology Association will form a green packaging promotion group and organize an expert panel of senior, representative specialists from Shanghai's environmental protection, food, pharmaceutical, and packaging fields to handle selection. The panel will have one chair, two deputy chairs, and several members; it will be adjusted every one to two years;

Article 13: The expert panel will review, discuss, and evaluate applications, then determine the recommended list by secret ballot. Selected projects must score at least 85 points and show advocacy value or industry representativeness. A one-vote veto applies: if any lifecycle stage has a serious issue in resource saving, safety and hygiene, or environmental protection, the project cannot be named Shanghai Green Packaging;

Article 14: The Green Packaging Committee of the Shanghai Packaging Technology Association will hold a directors' meeting to approve the expert panel's recommended list.

Article 15: The Green Packaging Committee will report the approved results to the Shanghai Packaging Technology Association for filing.

Article 16: Selection follows a fact-based approach and a strict, serious, responsible, fair, and impartial attitude. Selection meetings require in-person attendance; no delegated representatives may attend.

Chapter V: Public Announcement and Promotion

Article 17: Projects that pass review will be publicly announced on the Shanghai Packaging Technology Association website and the Shanghai Green Packaging website. If no objection is raised within two months after announcement, the project is confirmed as a green packaging project. If objections arise, the review panel will meet for re-evaluation, communicate with the complainant about projects that pass re-evaluation, and publish another announcement to gather feedback.

Article 18: Selected products receive a selection certificate—numbered for supervision—and a plaque.

Article 19: Promotion will be carried out through one newspaper (Shanghai Packaging News), one journal (Shanghai Packaging), one website (Shanghai Green Packaging Network), and one station (China Packaging News Shanghai Reporter Station), plus other media, to raise the social impact of green packaging.

Chapter VI: Use of Certificates and Plaques

Article 20: Certificates and plaques only mark and certify the applied-for and selected green packaging. When a certified company uses the green packaging mark on products or in ads, it must display the corresponding number. Certificates and plaques may not be used to exaggerate product quality, protective functions, or for any other commercial promotion.

Article 21: Certificates and plaques are for the certified company's own use only. If the company undergoes a merger, restructuring, or similar change, the certificate and plaque automatically become invalid;

Article 22: Normally, a Shanghai Green Packaging certificate and plaque are valid for two years. After expiry, the company may apply for re-inspection and receive a new certificate after passing selection and public announcement;

Article 23: Certified companies must actively accept public supervision and cooperate with annual inspections and irregular spot checks arranged by the Green Packaging Committee of the Shanghai Packaging Technology Association.

Article 24: If application materials are found false, or if during the certificate and plaque period the certified product causes a serious quality liability accident, the certified company has major issues such as illegal operation, or the certificate and plaque are misused, the association may suspend their use and issue a public announcement.

——This article is reprinted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-361870.html