[China Packaging Network News] Sustainable development is a new road proposed by China in recent years. Sustainable development includes many aspects. As far as the design industry is concerned, the required sustainable development path is mainly reflected in the design materials. With the development and innovation of packaging design, packaging design proposes "green packaging design" to cater for sustainable development. The green packaging design requires that the packaging design should not only consider the beautification of the product, but also fully consider the environmental performance of the packaging, so as to minimize the negative impact of the packaging products, materials, and technology on the environment and maximize the overall utilization of resources.
The common types of green packaging materials are divided into four types: recycled materials, biodegradable plastics, edible materials, and green packaging paper materials.
First, green packaging of renewable materials
Repeated use of packaging, such as beer, beverages, soy sauce, vinegar and other packaging using glass bottles repeatedly. If you do not contain metals, ceramics, and other substances, the glass can be almost completely recycled, and different colors of glass can be collected and recycled. In some developed countries, white glass and stained glass are collected in separate containers. Because glass packaging has the advantages of strong visibility and repeatable regeneration, it has become the main packaging container for beverages and other products. Polyester PET beverage bottles and PC milk bottles developed by countries such as Sweden can be reused for more than 20 times.
Second, the green packaging of biodegradable plastic
Degradable plastic refers to a kind of plastic that changes its chemical structure in a certain period of time and under certain circumstances. Degradable plastic packaging materials not only have the functions and characteristics of traditional plastics, but also can be split, degraded and reduced in the natural environment through the action of ultraviolet light in the sunlight or microorganisms in the soil and water after the service life is completed. Finally, they are non-toxic. The form re-enters the ecological environment and returns to nature. Degradable plastics made using modern technology have become one of the major green materials for modern packaging design applications.
Third, green packaging of edible materials
For decades, the familiar glutinous rice paper used for candy packaging and corn baking packaging cups for packaging ice cream are typical edible packaging. In China as early as the 12th and 13th centuries, waxes were used to apply oranges and lemons to delay their dehydration weight loss to extend the life of fruits and vegetables. This is the original form of edible plastic wrap. At present, paper packaging materials being researched and developed at home and abroad include: paper packaging films, disposable paper product containers, paper packaging materials developed using natural resources, and edible paper products.
Fourth, green packaging paper materials
The raw materials of paper are mainly natural plant fibers, which will quickly rot in nature, will not cause environmental pollution, and can also be recycled for papermaking. Therefore, many international corporations use recycled paper for annual reports and publicity materials production. They use recycled paper to make letter paper and letter paper to reflect their green principles of environmental concern, and at the same time establish a good corporate image. Paper materials also include pulp injection molding parts, composite materials, building materials and many other uses. Pulp molded products not only have the advantages of light weight, low cost, shock resistance, etc., but also have good air permeability and are conducive to the preservation of fresh products. In the international commodity circulation, they are widely used in fragile products such as eggs, fruits, and glass products. , easy to break, afraid of the squeezed items on the packaging.
The above are four commonly used materials for green packaging design. From the perspective of green packaging, the most preferred choice is: no packaging or minimal packaging, it will fundamentally eliminate the impact of packaging on the environment; followed by returnable, reusable packaging or recyclable packaging, it The benefits and effectiveness of recycling depend on the recycling system and the consumer's perception.