Resolving Regulatory Challenges to Promote Green Governance — Expert Interpretation on Advancing the Green Product Certification System for Express Packaging

Recently, the State Administration for Market Regulation announced at a routine press conference that China will implement green product certification for express packaging. So, what specific issues in green governance of express packaging can be addressed by promoting green product certification for express packaging? What measures will be taken to advance related work? Bo Yumin, Deputy Director of the Certification Supervision Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation, and Hou Yanbo, Deputy Director and Second-level Inspector of the Office of the State Post Bureau, provided explanations on this.

Green governance of express packaging involves multiple stakeholders including packaging manufacturers, e-commerce companies, senders, delivery companies, recipients, and recycling enterprises. It covers the entire industry chain of packaging production, use, and recycling, as well as upstream and downstream aspects. Governance is a complex systematic project. The State Post Bureau, together with relevant departments, promotes green governance of express packaging from five aspects: improving top-level design, perfecting laws, regulations and policy systems, strengthening supervision and management, focusing on pilot demonstrations, and enhancing joint construction and governance. Last year, the bureau proposed the "9571" project based on industry realities, which means: 95% usage rate of electronic waybills, over 50% of e-commerce parcels no longer repackaged, 70% usage rate of reusable transit bags, and 10,000 postal and express outlets equipped with packaging waste recycling devices. Currently, the four indicators have reached 98%, 52%, 75%, and 30,000 respectively, indicating that green governance of express packaging meets the needs of economic and social development and has received active response from all sectors of society. This year, the State Post Bureau continues to implement the "9792" project, aiming to achieve by the end of the year: 90% packaging sealing rate with "slim tape" under 45mm, 70% rate of no secondary packaging for e-commerce parcels, 90% usage rate of reusable transit bags, and an additional 20,000 postal and express outlets equipped with standard packaging waste recycling devices. As of the end of August, the national "slim tape" sealing rate reached 94.3%, the no secondary packaging rate for e-commerce parcels reached 68.5%, the usage rate of reusable transit bags reached 87.2%, and 35,000 postal and express outlets were newly equipped with standard packaging waste recycling boxes.

Green product certification for express packaging is based on the "Technical Requirements for Green Product Certification of Express Packaging" and evaluates from aspects such as resources, energy, environment, and quality. Express packaging products that obtain green certification mean they meet characteristics such as resource conservation, environmental harmlessness, and consumer friendliness. For example, they use natural, biodegradable, or recyclable raw materials, strictly control heavy metal content, have no irritating odor, can be reused multiple times, use less tape, and are recyclable. Taking common paper express packaging boxes as an example, boxes certified as green products must use recycled paper or recycled plant fibers as base materials, strictly control metal contents such as lead and mercury, use designs like buckles or zippers for sealing, use little or no tape, meet national and industry standards for odor, and use environmentally friendly water-based inks with printing area not exceeding specified proportions.

During the governance work, some urgent problems have emerged, the most prominent being the lack of authoritative green certification for express packaging products and the absence of unified labeling. This causes difficulties for consumers to identify, for delivery companies to purchase and use, and for supervisory departments to conduct on-site inspections. Carrying out green product certification for express packaging can effectively resolve these issues and facilitate orderly progress in green governance of express packaging.

This system is an important part of China's unified green product certification system. Establishing and implementing green product certification for express packaging is a necessary requirement for practicing the concept of green development and for enterprises to fulfill social responsibility; it is an important measure to increase the supply of green express packaging products and improve supply quality and efficiency; it is an effective way to promote the green transformation, upgrading, and high-quality development of the express packaging industry.

The next key work of the State Post Bureau is to combine departmental responsibilities and task division to ensure effective implementation. First, to carry out publicity and education on certification policies, enhance the industry's understanding of green product certification, and guide manufacturers to voluntarily apply for green product certification. Second, to promote acceptance of certification results, incorporate them into the "Green Development Action Plan for the Postal and Express Industry (2021-2025)", guide delivery companies to purchase and use express packaging certified as green products, and gradually increase the proportion and scale of green packaging application. Third, to strengthen supporting infrastructure, cooperate with the State Administration for Market Regulation to establish a technical expert group for green product certification of express packaging, and take effective measures to improve testing service capacity and solve supply shortages. Fourth, to carry out routine supervision and management.