[Abstract] Green packaging design is a new concept proposed in recent years. It is a sustainable development model for the packaging industry. The connotation of green packaging and green design was introduced here, and the specific implementation steps of green packaging design were discussed.

Keywords: green packaging; green packaging design; technical research

In the past 50 years, the world’s environmental pollution has become increasingly serious. Some people liken the severity of global environmental issues and human society’s awareness of environmental issues as “the Third World War.” War has two endings: First, humans have insufficient understanding of current environmental issues and do not take decisive measures to continue. To seek economic development through the sacrifice of cattle for the environment, this is essentially a way for humanity to destroy itself, and the other is for humans to carry out profound reflections, establish new environmental awareness, take effective measures, and take the road of sustainable development—in development. While protecting the economy, the environment is protected.

In real life, with the development of economy and the improvement of people’s living standards, a considerable part of the packaging of industrial products and most consumer goods is used once. For example, Americans buy about 70 million tons of packaging materials each year, and use an average of nearly 660 pounds of paper, plastic, glass, metal, and other packaging materials. Nearly 90% of packaging is disposed of; the European Community produces a year. About 50 million packaging waste. The rapid increase in packaging waste not only causes great pollution to the environment, but also consumes a lot of resources and exacerbates the global resource tension. Therefore, the development of green packaging is an effective way to promote sustainable development.

1 Connotation of green packaging and green packaging design

Green packaging refers to all kinds of packaging items that are harmless, less polluting, and in line with the environment, including environmental and resource regeneration. Green packaging design refers to the comprehensive consideration of the life cycle at the packaging design stage: less materials are used, and renewable raw materials are used as much as possible; the energy consumption of the packaging products is low and the environment is not polluted; the use of safety is long and the service life is long; Dismantling, recycling, reuse.

Packaged goods are also relatively products, and the entire process can also be discussed from the product life cycle. The meaning of the product life cycle: The product starts with raw materials and is processed through raw material processing, product manufacturing, transportation, consumer use and maintenance, recycling, or disposal or disposal as waste. The entire process is called the life cycle of the product. Exploring the product life cycle is necessary for green packaging design. It provides designers with the basis for thinking and attention.

2 Green Packaging Design Implementation Steps

Energy Energy Energy Energy Energy ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
(Access to raw materials) (Materials processing) (Product production) (Product use or consumption) (Final disposal: Landfill, combustion, recycling or use)
↓ ↓↑ ↓↑ ↓ │ │ │
Waste Waste │ Waste │ │ Waste │ │
│ │ └───────────┘ │
└─────┴──────────────────────┘
In order to reduce the environmental pollution of packaging, designers must first establish a design concept of “prevention from prevention and governance from the perspective of prevention” and actively cut off sources or sources of pollution from the source, that is, from the beginning of design, it is necessary to establish Concept of waste reduction, namely 4R concept: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recovery

Decrease—refers to the use of design techniques and techniques to minimize the use of resources.

Reuse - refers to the use of waste as a raw material for production and reuse, which is part of the recovery of resources.

Recycling—refers to the reuse of useful resources or constituents of waste and is part of the recovery of some resources. And, we must fully consider the life cycle of packaged goods and extend the useful life of packaged goods. Only in this way can we truly protect the environment.

2.1 Material Selection

Try to choose green materials - non-toxic, non-hazardous, easily disassembled or recycled, non-polluting materials. It manifests itself in: The greenness of the material and its product processing process: The environmental impact during processing is as small as possible.

Material and its greenness: The environmental impact during use can be as small as possible.

Greenness of materials and their recycling: Materials and their products are easy to recycle after use.

The first Italian company to develop and use green packaging materials was the Italian Chemical Company. In the early 1990s, the Italian Chemical Company took the lead in introducing new biodegradable packaging plastics to solve the environmental impact of packaging. Today, the world's degradable plastics are divided into four categories: photodegradable plastics, photo-biodegradable plastics, biodegradable plastics, and soluble plastics. The huge market demand has stimulated the rapid development of degradable plastics. The Ministry of Trade and Industry of Japan has degraded Plastics are listed as the "fourth new material" after metal materials, inorganic materials, and polymer materials. Some countries in Europe have already enacted legislation that certain plastic packaging must use degradable plastics, and harmful environmental packaging must not be put on the market. German beverage cups are made from starch. Recycled paper with signs of chasing Arrows is widely used around the world.

2.2 Packaging Reduction and Optimization of Packaging Structure

Under the premise of ensuring the packaging effect, optimize the packaging structure, reduce the consumption of packaging materials, eliminate unnecessary packaging as much as possible. Adopting a standardized way of integrating loading, unloading, transporting and packaging can greatly save packaging materials, reduce workload, and improve the quality of packaging and transportation.

2.3 Detachable and resourceful packaging design

In terms of packaging design, emphasis is placed on the environmental protection of component parts and the disintegration and orientation of assembly operations. For example, Taiwan’s Acer company successfully developed a personal computer without screws in 1991 and it is easy to disassemble and recycle. In the same year, screen manuals were developed to replace the traditional manuals and reduce paper consumption. In 1992, the company also used recycled paper and corrugated paper packaging to replace the traditional use of foaming PS.

2.4 design long-life packaging materials, pay attention to the reuse of packaging materials

On the other hand, both China and abroad have gradually received attention. For example, the Coca-Cola Company pioneered the promotion of recyclable containers worldwide, and McDonald's switched to recyclable paper to package hamburgers.
Ms. Carol Meltzer uses recycled materials to make fashion, household goods and daily necessities, such as envelopes, documents, etc. ZIRH skin nutrition company allows customers to return used containers and packaging to the place of purchase. ZIRH will ensure that all plastic parts are recycled, and the company even recycles cardboard as an outer package of new products.

3 Conclusion

With the advent of a green era of “protecting the environment, advocating nature, and promoting sustainable development”, China will soon join the WTO. Environmental protection poses a severe challenge to the packaging of enterprise products. When the packaging of a company fails to meet the requirements of the importing country, it will Can not enter the market. Green packaging design is an important guarantee for the sustainable development of the packaging industry. It not only protects the environment, but also establishes the company's green image.


(LI Jun) (Department of Materials Science, Chongqing Institute of Technology, Chongqing 400050)


Reprinted from: "Packaging Project"

Drawstring Backpack

Drawstring Backpack,Best Drawstring Backpack,Leather Drawstring Backpack,Canvas Drawstring Backpack

Ningbo Happiness Stationery Industrial & Trading Co Ltd , https://www.cnhappiness.com