Under Plastics Restrictions, Paper-Based Packaging Gains New Platform: China Technical Association’s Green Packaging Committee Launches in Beijing

On the morning of May 21, 2021, Beijing hosted the inaugural meeting of the Special Committee on Paper-Based Green Packaging Materials and Products, part of the China Technical Association of the Paper Industry (referred to as the Paper-Based Green Packaging Committee). The event drew more than 80 delegates from paper and paperboard, paper products, molded pulp, green chemicals, and equipment manufacturing companies; end users in logistics, food delivery, and catering; and research institutes and universities.

Cao Chunyu, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of the China Technical Association of the Paper Industry and Chairman of China Pulp and Paper Research Institute Co., Ltd., addressed the inaugural meeting.

Cao noted that as global and Chinese efforts to “restrict plastics” and “ban plastics” gain momentum, paper-based packaging has taken on greater value and opened new opportunities for industries tied to its production and use—while also bringing unavoidable challenges. He said industry bodies must help stakeholders identify and seize opportunities, address challenges, and prevent disorder. He called on the committee to bring in users from adjacent sectors so end-user needs can feed back broadly and become a main driver of paper-based packaging development. It should also unite the full supply chain—raw and auxiliary materials, manufacturing, and equipment—to create a closed loop of capabilities for industry development.

Wang Xiaoxin, Vice Chairman of the China Technical Association of the Paper Industry, read the association’s approval document for the committee and announced its official establishment.

The meeting approved China Pulp and Paper Research Institute Co., Ltd. as chair member unit, with Tian Chao as chairman and Zhang Hongjie as vice chairman. Vice-chair member units include China Light Industry Paper Products Inspection and Certification Co., Ltd., Xianhe Co., Ltd., Zhuhai Hongta Renheng Packaging Co., Ltd., Wanguo Paper Sun Ivory Board Co., Ltd., Sinar Mas Group APP (China), and Shanying International Holding Co., Ltd. Shunqihe (Shenzhen) Technology Co., Ltd. and JD Logistics Group are specially invited member units. The secretariat is based at China Pulp and Paper Research Institute Co., Ltd., with Liu Zhenhua as secretary-general. Cao Chunyu and Wang Xiaoxin then presented plaques to the chair, vice-chair, and specially invited member units.

The inaugural meeting also reviewed the committee’s working measures and its 2021 work plan.

Tian Chao, chairman of the Paper-Based Green Packaging Committee and deputy general manager of China Pulp and Paper Research Institute Co., Ltd., spoke at the end of the meeting.

Tian said society and industry are closely watching how packaging materials will evolve after the “plastics restriction order,” how paper packaging and its upstream and downstream players can contribute more, how consumer and platform demand for packaging is shifting, and what changes and upgrades paper materials need based on today’s industrial base. Key questions include how to break through technical bottlenecks so pulp and paper products can match plastics in performance and even cost, and how to develop quality and method standards suited to new use scenarios and turn them into industry norms.

For papermaking, packaging, machinery, chemicals, and even the consumption end, this represents a transformation and upgrading opportunity, Tian said. It is also the founding purpose and future direction of the Paper-Based Green Packaging Committee: under the leadership of the China Technical Association of the Paper Industry, to work with all parties focused on paper-based green packaging, discuss industry direction, solve pain points in implementation, and align resources with needs. The goal is a cooperation and exchange platform that supports healthy, orderly industry growth and delivers tangible benefits to participants.

After the inaugural meeting, delegates visited the National Engineering Laboratory for Pulp and Paper and the National Paper Quality Supervision and Inspection Center.

The committee’s establishment is the paper industry’s active response to the new “plastics restriction order,” which calls for reducing and gradually prohibiting the production and use of non-degradable plastic products and finding and developing substitutes. Going forward, the committee’s seminars will be put into formal operation. It will organize forums, conferences, and salons; develop group standards; conduct online and offline briefings and training on policy, standards, and technology; solicit technical research projects; and potentially match technology, talent, and market needs, along with online and offline exhibitions, displays, and promotions.

The Paper-Based Green Packaging Committee of the China Technical Association of the Paper Industry and China Pulp and Paper Research Institute Co., Ltd. will continue working with industry experts to advance research, application, and development of paper-based green packaging materials. Relevant companies are welcome to join the committee.

——This article is reprinted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-377450.html