"exploration and innovative practice of plastic reduction on e-commerce platforms" salon: leading green transformation and promoting sustainable development
2024-09-05
한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina
plastic packaging is one of the most common chemicals in our daily lives. from the express parcels we receive after every shopping spree to every takeaway order we receive, plastic packaging has penetrated into our daily lives, providing convenience for every corner of modern society. however, behind this convenience lies an environmental crisis that cannot be ignored.
in today's digital age, e-commerce platforms have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. with the booming e-commerce industry, the use of plastic packaging and logistics materials has also surged, bringing unprecedented burdens to the environment. faced with pressure and challenges, e-commerce platforms, as a key link in promoting green consumption, bear an unshirkable responsibility and mission. they are not only a medium for commodity transactions, but also an important force in leading green transformation and promoting sustainable development.
the scene of the "exploration and innovative practice of plastic reduction on e-commerce platforms" event
on august 30, world whale shark day, the paper and the beijing office of the world wildlife fund (switzerland) (hereinafter referred to as "wwf") held the "exploration and innovative practice of plastic reduction on e-commerce platforms" event in the world living room, focusing on the exploration and innovation of the e-commerce industry in reducing plastic pollution. the event brought together many experts from the government, industry associations, non-governmental organizations (ngos) and enterprises. they conducted in-depth exchanges and discussions on the key role and efficient strategies of e-commerce platforms in plastic pollution control, and conducted in-depth analysis and forward-looking planning on topics such as how to give full play to the technical advantages and market influence of e-commerce platforms, promote collaborative plastic reduction in the supply chain, and build a more complete plastic recycling and recycling system.
huang fang, deputy editor-in-chief of the paper
china, as one of the major countries in the world in the production and consumption of plastic products, ranks among the top in the world in terms of plastic production scale and consumption. at the same time, china also has the world's largest e-commerce market. according to data from the ministry of commerce, by 2023, china's total online retail sales will exceed 15 trillion yuan, ranking first in the world for 11 consecutive years.
in this context, e-commerce platforms, as a key hub for commodity circulation, have become increasingly prominent in promoting environmental governance, especially in reducing the use of plastics. huang fang, deputy editor-in-chief of the paper, elaborated on the media's responsibility and commitment in her speech: "we have always been at the forefront of major environmental issues, and with the principle of 'co-construction of projects and co-creation of content', we have actively linked up with international organizations, research institutes, enterprises and other forces to focus on the core issues of ecological environmental protection."
zhang yimo, director of sustainable blue economy project, wwf switzerland beijing office
according to the resolution issued by the united nations environment assembly in 2022, the world expects to conclude a legally binding agreement on plastic pollution control in 2024. at this critical moment, zhang yimo, director of wwf's sustainable blue economy program, elaborated on the current progress in his speech, pointing out that the negotiations on the global plastic pollution control agreement are in full swing. the wwf international network has been deeply involved in the negotiations since the beginning, not only actively advocating the establishment of ambitious plastic reduction targets, but also injecting key momentum into the negotiation process by providing policy research and technical paths. at the same time, wwf also maintains good communication and cooperation with many countries including china.
zhang yimo said, "the plastic problem goes far beyond the material itself. it is related to biodiversity conservation, climate change response and human well-being." in view of this, he called on stakeholders such as e-commerce platforms, express delivery companies, consumers and management departments to work together to promote plastic reduction in the e-commerce industry and contribute their respective strengths to building a green and sustainable future.
policy guidance and technological empowerment: plastic governance requires two-wheel drive
on july 31, the cpc central committee and the state council jointly issued the "opinions on accelerating the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development" (hereinafter referred to as the "opinions"). the "opinions" not only pointed out that my country should actively participate in and lead the global green transformation process, including actively responding to climate change, marine pollution control, biodiversity protection, and plastic pollution control in the field of international rule-making, so as to promote the construction of a fair, reasonable, cooperative and win-win global environmental climate governance system; at the same time, the "opinions" also emphasized the need to vigorously develop the circular economy and deepen the promotion of the circular economy to help carbon reduction actions.
fan wenjia, senior project manager of the external cooperation and exchange center of the ministry of ecology and environment
fan wenjia, senior project manager of the center for international cooperation and exchange of the ministry of ecology and environment, analyzed the key contents of the previous united nations environment conference on plastic pollution from a global perspective. she pointed out that "the chinese government currently attaches great importance to the negotiation of the global 'plastic convention', among which the issues directly related to the reduction of plastic on e-commerce platforms mainly focus on the extended producer responsibility system and problematic plastic products." fan wenjia emphasized that the standardization process will be one of the important factors for whether the global "plastic convention" can truly succeed on a global scale in the future. at the same time, she further introduced china's policy framework and action plan for plastic pollution control, and called on all sectors of society to work together to actively promote the reduction, recycling and resource utilization of plastic packaging.
zhao kai, executive vice president of china circular economy association
zhao kai, executive vice president of the china circular economy association, conducted an in-depth analysis of the green packaging policy research in the express logistics field on the key issue of the extended producer responsibility (epr) system. vice president zhao said that the epr system is an important policy tool for achieving full life cycle management of plastic packaging. by clarifying the responsibility boundaries of various stakeholders such as producers, sellers, and consumers, and supplemented by improving relevant policies, regulations, standard systems, and recycling and reuse mechanisms, the system can effectively promote the green transformation of the express packaging industry and promote the effective recycling of resources. he called on e-commerce platforms to actively respond to the call of the epr system, strengthen the research and development and application of green packaging materials, and promote the construction of a green supply chain.
jiang nanqing, director of qinghe circular economy and carbon neutrality research institute
jiang nanqing, director of the qinghe circular economy and carbon neutrality research institute, believes that the circular economy is an effective way to reduce plastic pollution. the circular economy not only represents an economic form, but also a model that can achieve environmental friendliness and sustainable development. its core lies in maximizing the use of resources through the "3r" principle - reduce, reuse, and recycle. in her opinion, e-commerce platforms should promote the green transformation of e-commerce logistics by optimizing packaging design, promoting recyclable packaging, and establishing a sound digital recycling system. jiang nanqing believes that e-commerce platforms should become an important force in promoting the development of the circular economy, and jointly formulate unified standards and policy guidelines by uniting merchants, consumers, governments, and social organizations to achieve the goal of reducing plastics throughout the entire chain.
plastic reduction action across the entire supply chain: stakeholders work together to find a good solution to plastic pollution control
as a key link in the field of plastic packaging applications, e-commerce platforms are becoming an indispensable force in promoting green consumption. they are the bridge between consumers and merchants, and also the role in driving the supply chain towards the goal of plastic reduction. in order to further explore the topic of "how stakeholders can work together with e-commerce platforms to lead a new trend of green consumption and jointly help control plastic pollution", representatives from industry organizations, enterprises and media conducted in-depth discussions in the roundtable dialogue session.
jiang nanqing, director of the qinghe circular economy and carbon neutrality research institute, pointed out that the organic integration of technological innovation, policy guidance and market mechanisms will be the key to accelerating the green transformation of e-commerce platforms. she believes that e-commerce platforms should actively advocate the use of green packaging materials, build and improve packaging recycling mechanisms, and use data transparency and reporting mechanisms to improve the overall transparency of the industry.
duan yanjian, vice president of huidu environmental technology (shanghai) co., ltd., demonstrated the active exploration and practice of e-commerce platforms in the field of plastic reduction in packaging through specific cases. he introduced that jd.com has effectively reduced the consumption of plastics in the logistics process by widely adopting innovative solutions such as recycling transfer belts and recycling incubators; and meituan's "qingshan plan" and other projects, through a series of fruitful activities, not only popularized the concept of green consumption, but also promoted the establishment and improvement of a plastic recycling system. duan yanjian further pointed out that reduction and recycling have become the two core strategies in the field of plastic reduction in e-commerce logistics packaging. specifically, by implementing reduction measures such as promoting the use of slimming tapes and slimming express bags, as well as recycling measures such as recycling transfer belts and recycling incubators, plastic consumption in the logistics process can be significantly reduced.
roundtable discussion on the topic of "how can stakeholders cooperate with e-commerce platforms to lead green consumption and help control plastic pollution"
han wenhui, project manager of the break free from plastic project, focused on the field of takeaway packaging from a unique perspective, and deeply analyzed and advocated a series of innovative plastic reduction strategies. she not only elaborated on the takeaway platforms' active attempts to lead the trend of tableware-free services and promote the use of recyclable lunch boxes, but also specifically cited the results of the recyclable lunch box project of food panda, a well-known hong kong takeaway platform, as a model, showing the potential and effectiveness of plastic reduction actions in practice. han wenhui believes that "takeaway platforms should strengthen communication and cooperation with merchants, work together to promote the formation of green consumption habits, pay attention to consumers' actual needs and feedback, and continuously optimize plastic reduction measures."
liu ji, head of the public welfare department and editor-in-chief of the paper, stressed the importance of advocating for plastic reduction from the perspective of the media. he said, "the media should make full use of its credibility, influence and communication power to raise public awareness of plastic pollution through innovative communication models and channels. the paper will continue to pay attention to plastic reduction actions and look forward to working with multiple parties to conduct in-depth research and produce insight reports to provide strong support for plastic reduction actions."
when discussing the multiple driving forces of plastic reduction, the delegates reached a consensus, emphasizing that every consumer is an indispensable key force in promoting change. they advocated that consumers should practice the concept of plastic reduction in their daily lives, actively reduce their dependence on plastic products, and support the establishment of green packaging and recycling systems. in addition, the event also reaffirmed the core position of the government in promoting plastic reduction actions, and discussed how to effectively guide e-commerce platforms and consumers to choose green packaging and environmentally friendly products by formulating relevant policy standards, establishing incentive mechanisms, and using market means to further promote the formation of green consumption and environmentally friendly lifestyles. this remains a continuous and important focus in future work.
the extended producer responsibility (epr) system has broad application prospects in the e-commerce industry
developing a circular economy is one of the important ways to achieve sustainable economic and social development, and the extended producer responsibility system (epr) is a core component of the circular economy legal system in many countries today. the system plays an important role in improving resource recycling rates, reducing waste emissions, and protecting and improving the natural environment. at this forum, experts and scholars also pointed out that epr has shown great development potential in china, especially in the e-commerce industry and express logistics.
the origin of the epr system can be traced back to 1988, when it was first proposed by professor thomas, an environmental economist at lund university in sweden. it was then first put into practice in the german packaging act in 1991, which established the extended producer responsibility model in the packaging field. since then, this concept has quickly taken root in the circular economy legislation of many countries around the world, and has gradually expanded from the packaging field to multiple fields such as waste electrical and electronic products and waste cars, becoming a formal environmental policy and greatly broadening the channels for waste disposal.
in china, with the economic growth and the proposal of the "dual carbon" strategic goal, the epr system is gradually becoming an important driving force for promoting circular economy and sustainable development. in recent years, china has carried out pilot and popularization work on the epr system in many fields. zhao kai introduced that from the first proposal of the "circular economy promotion law" in 2008, to the introduction of the "extended producer responsibility system implementation plan" in 2016, and then to the promulgation of a series of related policy documents, this series of measures has provided a solid legal basis and policy support for the implementation of the epr system in china.
roundtable discussion on the topic of "how can stakeholders cooperate with e-commerce platforms to lead green consumption and help control plastic pollution"
when talking about the future development of the epr system in china, several guests at the roundtable forum expressed their views.
jiang nanqing believes that although the epr system is relatively mature abroad, the chinese market has its own unique complexity and characteristics. it needs to rely on cutting-edge technologies such as the internet of things and big data to achieve accurate monitoring and management of the entire life cycle of products through technological innovation, thereby improving recycling efficiency and resource utilization.
han wenhui cited amazon's practice in germany as an example, pointing out that although the strict implementation of the epr system has increased merchants' costs in the short term, in the long run, it has promoted the research and development and application of environmentally friendly packaging solutions, providing inspiration for the in-depth implementation of china's epr system. from this perspective, the development of epr in china has great potential. at the same time, china should also make corresponding adjustments and optimizations based on its unique digital advantages and the actual e-commerce market environment.
in addition, duan yanjian further pointed out that the successful implementation of the epr system is inseparable from the close cooperation of the entire industry chain. stakeholders such as e-commerce platforms, express delivery companies, producers and consumers need to work together to form a joint force. e-commerce platforms should actively respond to the requirements of the epr system, increase the purchase and application of green packaging materials, and promote merchants to adopt environmentally friendly packaging; express delivery companies should optimize logistics processes, reduce the use of packaging materials, and improve recycling efficiency; producers need to strengthen product ecological design to ensure that products are easy to recycle and reuse; and consumers need to establish environmental awareness and actively participate in green consumption and recycling activities.
looking ahead, with the increasing global attention to the issue of plastic pollution control and the continued advancement of the "dual carbon" goals, the development of the epr system in china will usher in more opportunities. under the background of strong government guidance, active response from enterprises and increasing public environmental awareness, the epr system is expected to play a more significant role in the fields of e-commerce and express logistics, and promote the green transformation and sustainable development of china's economy. we have reason to believe that in the near future, driven by the epr system, china will build a more environmentally friendly and efficient packaging and logistics system, and make positive contributions to the construction of a beautiful china and the realization of harmonious coexistence between man and nature.
li yiran zhang yuzhu
(this article is from the paper. for more original information, please download the "the paper" app)
