Talking about the green packaging system II

3, recycling of packaging waste

Packing waste refers to the function that loses or completes the original value and use value of the contents, and becomes a packaging container, material, and auxiliary material for which solid waste is discarded. According to research data from the Gallup Institute for Public Opinion in the United States, plastics account for 72% of environmental waste, 8% for glass, 9% for metals (mainly steel and aluminum), 4% for paper, and 1% for others. Unknowns account for 6%. Paper packaging waste can rot for 7 days under proper conditions. It usually takes several years. Plastic packaging waste can take hundreds of years.

Recycling is an active packaging waste treatment method that addresses environmental pollution, saves resources and energy, and promotes recycling of packaging materials. The recycling of packaging waste is an important indicator for evaluating green packaging, and it is also a hot research topic in the field of green packaging. The recycling of packaging waste should start from the source, firstly avoid the emergence of packaging waste, and fundamentally solve the hazards of packaging waste to humans and the environment. Germany implements comprehensive treatment of packaging waste according to procedures such as avoidance, collection, classification, utilization, incineration, and stacking.

Recycling packaging waste and developing new resources and materials are the most effective ways to solve the problem of pollution of packaging waste. Recycling of packaging waste such as plastics, paper, glass, and metals has resulted in some research results, such as:

· Plastic packaging waste recycling. (1) Landfilling; (2) Incineration; (3) Composting; (4) Recycling; (5) Substitution methods (eg biodegradable plastics, pulp molded products, environmentally friendly tableware, etc.).

·Recycling of paper packaging waste. (1) Recycled papermaking; (2) Development of new products such as pulp molded products, corrugated board, paper chip paste, livestock feed, etc.

·Recycling of glass packaging waste. (1) Reuse and reuse; (2) Return to furnace regeneration: (3) Develop new products such as glass-ceramics, foam glass, glass beads, glass fiber, building materials, road surface layered materials, and glass fertilizers.
·Recycling of metal packaging waste. (1) Reuse and reuse; (2) Develop new products such as aluminum pellets, aluminum powder, and polyaluminum chloride.

4, green packaging materials

Packaging material is the material basis for the formation of product packaging, and is the carrier for all functions of commodity packaging. Green packaging material is the material basis of green packaging, which has the advantages of resource conservation, environmental protection, etc., and meets the development trend of international packaging industry material applications.

Green packaging materials should have the basic properties of traditional packaging materials, such as protection, processability and packaging and printability, and should have outstanding characteristics that are different from the traditional packaging materials, that is, no pollution to human health and ecological environment, Its waste is easy to recycle and reuse. The cost-effectiveness of green packaging materials is also an important characteristic that needs to be considered. The use of cost-effective packaging materials will help improve the quality and economic benefits of packaging products.

In accordance with the environmental protection and ownership of materials after use, green packaging materials can be roughly divided into three categories:

(1) Recyclable remanufactured materials: paper, cardboard, pulp molded products, metals, glass, linear polymer materials (plastics, fibers), and degradable polymer materials.

(2) Materials that can naturally weather and return to nature: paper products, degradable materials, edible materials.

(3) Materials that can be burned to recover energy without polluting the atmosphere: some composite materials, some linear polymers, and bulk polymers.

At present, the key research contents of green packaging materials include:

· Honeycomb paperboard, pulp molded products, corrugated paper composite boards, high-strength corrugated board, plant fiber products.

Degradable plastics (such as photodegradation, biodegradation, photo/biological double degradation, oxidative degradation, hydrolytic degradation, etc.), natural polymer materials, edible packaging materials for food packaging, calcium plastic corrugated boxes, plastic/wood composites material.

· Eco-friendly inks (such as high-performance water-based inks).

(Author: Guo Yanfeng)