Shanxi's Express Packaging Turns Leaner and More Circular: Less Tape, More Carton Reuse

Opening a parcel is much easier these days, Liu Huiying, who lives in Taiyuan's Qianlijia Shan residential community, said on May 9 after receiving a small delivery. Previously, she recalled, packages were bound so tightly with tape that cutting them open took a long time; the item might be small, yet the box was large and packed with foam, leaving a heap of rubbish once the product was removed.

In recent years, Shanxi has stepped up green development across the postal sector and accelerated efforts to curb excessive express packaging. Delivery companies, meanwhile, have rolled out new packing approaches to loosen and slim down puffed-up parcels.

Cross-shaped taping: keeping parcels safe while cutting tape use

After goods are stacked, a strip of tape is wrapped around the middle of the carton, then used to seal the front and rear openings to form a cross—and the courier has finished packing a box. Days ago, Shanxi SF Express held a packaging contest in which frontline couriers competed; speed mattered, but so did consumable use and how green the packaging was.

▲A courier packing a parcel

During the contest, couriers worked quickly and neatly, yet excessive tape led to penalties. A slightly slower pack could earn credit if tape use was moderate and reasonable and the result was simple but secure. Yang Huibin, public affairs manager at Shanxi SF Express, said cartons of different sizes require different sealing methods: small, non-fragile items can use an I-shaped seal; large or fragile items call for an H-shaped seal; ordinary cartons use the cross-shaped taping method.

This allows us to use as little tape as possible while keeping the packaging safe, Yang said. Shanxi SF Express plans to make packaging training routine and continue holding such contests, helping minimalist packaging become an industry consensus so more parcels can travel light.

At the end of April, the State Administration for Market Regulation released the Express Electronic Waybill. The national standard is expected to further improve the green express packaging standards system—covering envelopes, boxes, tape and more—and provide stronger support for comprehensive express packaging governance.

Recyclable eco-cartons: sealed with a single strip of tape

At the 6th Shanxi (Yuncheng) International Fruit Trade Expo in 2021, Shanxi ZTO showcased a green carton with a glue-free bottom design that can be sealed with just one strip of tape. Tests showed that one such carton saves about 1 meter of tape compared with a conventional carton. Shanxi ZTO mainly uses these cartons for outbound agricultural specialty products.

Express packaging feels much lighter now, said Liu Naxin of Baiyun Shijia in Taiyuan. An online shopping enthusiast, she receives one or two parcels almost every day. She has found that most cartons—large or small—are corrugated boxes that remain in good condition after the tape is removed. They can easily be used once or twice more; throwing them away is too wasteful. She collects the boxes and takes them to a nearby express outlet for reuse.

▲Staff sorting parcels at Shanxi ZTO's Taiyuan operation center

Shanxi ZTO was among the earlier courier companies in Taiyuan to offer carton recycling. All 65 of its outlets in the city are equipped with custom express packaging recycling bins, and unpacking tools are available for customers. Besides ZTO, YTO, SF Express and JD.com have also mostly installed recycling bins at their outlets to make packaging recovery easier.

Statistics show that more than 80% of the individual parcels collected daily by these outlets use second-hand recycled cartons, cutting costs for outlets and sparing individuals packaging fees. In recent years, these courier firms have run activities in Taiyuan, Yangquan, Jinzhong and other locations—such as point exchanges and sticker giveaways—to encourage express packaging recycling and reuse.

Shanxi's recyclable express box use reached 100,000 units in 2022

According to the Shanxi Provincial Postal Administration, by the end of 2022 Shanxi had achieved a 90% share of procured and used packaging materials meeting standards, a 90% standardized packaging operation rate, 100,000 recyclable express boxes (cases) in application, and 15 million corrugated cartons recycled and reused.

In March, the General Office of the Shanxi Provincial People's Government issued Several Measures of Shanxi Province on Further Strengthening the Governance of Excessive Commodity Packaging (the Measures), strengthening whole-chain governance of excessive commodity packaging and giving support to green express delivery.

▲Workers loading and unloading goods

The Measures encourage delivery companies to adopt recyclable, easily recoverable and degradable alternatives, promote low-grammage, high-strength cartons and glue-free cartons, optimize packaging structures, reduce plastic fillers, and expand the use of recyclable delivery boxes and reusable refrigerated express boxes in same-city fresh food delivery.

At express outlets in campuses, communities and other locations, centralized express packaging recycling can continue to be promoted this year, along with the use of smart parcel lockers and other end-of-line express service platforms to recover packaging waste.

Beyond recycling bins at courier outlets, Shanxi's postal authorities encourage e-commerce and express companies to work with commercial institutions, convenience stores and property service companies to set up agreed recycling points for recyclable express packaging and deploy specialized recovery facilities.

Looking ahead, Shanxi will use provincial science and technology plan projects to support R&D in green express packaging, low-energy smart logistics and distribution, and encourage key enterprises to apply for national key R&D programs.

——This article is reprinted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-379369.html