With the rapid development of the economy and the continuous improvement of people’s living standards, the position of packaging in the national economy has become increasingly important. At the same time, the environmental pollution caused by packaging has also become increasingly serious. Packaging waste is an important part of solid waste. People are increasingly aware of its environmental hazards, so green packaging has become the research and development direction of the packaging industry.
The green packaging has seven major connotations. The so-called green packaging refers to the packaging of goods that is beneficial to the protection of human health and the ecological environment. Green packaging is a circular economy in the packaging field, and it is the application and concrete embodiment of the circular economy concept in the packaging field. Specifically, green packaging generally has seven aspects: First, the reduction of packaging is implemented. Packaging should be used to meet the protection, convenience, sales and other functions, to minimize the use of packaging materials; Second, the packaging should be easy to reuse, after the completion of a certain use of the function of the packaging, after appropriate treatment, can be reused; three is easy Recycled. Through the production of recycled products, incineration of heat energy, composting to improve the soil and other measures to achieve the purpose of reuse; Fourth, can be used for refilling. Containers such as cans and bottles can be refilled after they are used for recycling. Fifth, packaging waste can be decomposed and degraded, and ultimately it does not form permanent waste to achieve the purpose of improving soil. Sixth, packaging materials should be non-toxic to humans and organisms. harm. Packaging materials should not contain toxic elements, germs, heavy metals, or the content of these should be controlled below the relevant standards; seven packaging products from the collection of raw materials, materials processing, manufacturing products, product use, waste recycling and regeneration until its final The entire process should not cause harm to the human body and the environment.
The rapid development of China's green packaging industry is strongly promoting the progress of the daily chemical, food, and pharmaceutical industries, and the development of these industries has further stimulated the development of the packaging industry. Therefore, we should promote the use of non-toxic, non-hazardous, easy-to-recycle or natural decomposition packaging materials after use.
From the design point of view, first of all, we must analyze in detail the proper functions and the most basic functional characteristics of the packaged goods according to the characteristics of the packaged goods, and further evaluate whether the implementation of these functions consumes relatively less materials and energy, which has caused environmental problems. The minimum pressure.
Second, in the design process, it is necessary to analyze the functional structure of the product and analyze the material structure of the product. In terms of functional structure, it is necessary to clarify the form, volume, category, attributes, and scope of transport of packaged goods, analyze and determine the structure and function of the packaged goods, or the function of accessories, and further clarify the purpose of use of the packaged goods. In terms of material structure, it is necessary to analyze whether the attributes and packaging uses of packaging materials are properly configured, analyze the material composition and detachability of the entire product, and use actual results; try to reduce the types of materials in the same package for classification and recovery; Save material and reduce volume and weight. It is necessary to consider how to design from the cycle time of the package, so as to make an overall description of resource consumption and environmental load throughout the package cycle.
Finally, in terms of graphics and text, especially in the performance of design languages, more emphasis should be placed on promoting environmental protection information. Patterns, product names, colors, and texts must meet aesthetic needs.
Considering the use of materials to fully consider the recycling of materials, this not only saves raw materials, but also conducive to the recycling of resources. At present, many companies have considered the use of medium-sized, heavy-duty corrugated cartons or white cardboard boxes, and use a variety of moisture-proof fresh paper instead of plastic film packaging.
Take full account of the degradability of the material. In 1997, the former State Environmental Protection Agency announced the environmental labeling and product technical requirements for biodegradable plastic packaging products. Biodegradable plastics are considered to be the most promising green packaging materials. After being discarded, this new type of plastic can be embrittled and degraded into fragments through photosynthesis in a certain period of time. After being eroded by nature, it enters the soil and is digested by microorganisms (biochemical action), and no longer causes environmental pollution.
Packaging design should try to avoid using a variety of different materials. This simplifies the manufacturing process of the packaging, facilitates the disassembly and recycling of packaging, classification and reuse; for complex packaging, it is advisable to adopt a structural design that is easy to disassemble and separate. When designing metal containers, structurally different welded structures of different metals should be avoided. The containers should be designed to be separable and consist of multiple separate bins. Each individual bin should be of a material type.
In the modern packaging design, in order to make the package more beautiful and corrosion-resistant, a large number of materials with coated layers are used, which not only brings difficulties to the recovery and reuse of materials after scrapping, but most of the coatings themselves are toxic, especially the coating. The plating process also brought great pollution to the environment. Therefore, we should try our best to use non-coated and plated packaging materials; we can design and produce packaging products that can be used for turnover and reuse.
To simplify the package and do it properly. Many countries now advocate appropriate packaging and formulate many corresponding regulations. The reduction of packaging design can reduce packaging waste from the source, and it is the world’s first choice for green packaging. However, there are still a large number of abused materials, overpacking, and even luxury packaging in the packaging industry in China. This is contrary to the trend of environmental protection in the world, and restrictions should be taken and economic sanctions imposed.
Considering printing from the perspective of green printing is a new concept emerging in the printing industry in recent years to follow the trend of environmental protection in the world. In the past 10 years or more, flexographic printing has emerged in the packaging printing industry at home and abroad. In addition to the technical advantages of flexographic printing, a very important factor is to adapt to the requirements of green packaging, which can be widely used non-toxic, non- Residual solvents, environmentally friendly inks, and UV inks. Today, flexo printing technology has achieved a relatively clear technological breakthrough. The application of direct digital laser engraving technology in flexo platemaking has produced a seamless version, which has made flexo printing technology a big step forward.
In addition, the green packaging design should be comprehensively evaluated in terms of psychological factors and the legal environment. Export packaging design should be aware of the environmental laws and regulations of the target market countries, consumer environmental protection consumption concepts, environmental protection packaging development trends, etc., so that these factors can be fully considered in the packaging design. In the design of packaging, decoration, patterns and colors, it is necessary to highlight the atmosphere of environmental protection so as to adapt to the modern consumer psychology of foreign consumers protecting the environment and beautifying the environment.
(The authors are all associate professors of economics of the Party Committee of the Luzhou Municipal Party Committee of Hebei Province