Sinopec Releases Report on Carbon Reduction Potential of Express Industry Packaging

On September 30, according to the Sinopec News Office, Sinopec officially released the 2021-2030 Research Report on Carbon Emission Reduction Potential of Green Packaging in China's Express Industry. The Report shows that in 2020, the total carbon emissions of China's express packaging in the whole process of production, waste treatment and other stages will be 23.9584 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. If there is no recycling or replacement of disposable plastic bags generated by the express industry, the cumulative carbon emissions of disposable plastic bags in China's express industry will reach 59.61 million tons from 2021-2030. In recent years, Sinopec has been committed to exploring ways to reduce carbon emissions in the express industry by promoting the recycling of plastic packaging materials.

The Report was jointly launched by Sinopec Chemical Business Unit, Sinopec Chemical Sales Co., Ltd., Sinopec Petrochemical Research Institute, Institute of Ecological Civilization and Circular Economy of Tongji University, and Zhejiang Chang Triangle Circular Economy Technology Research Institute.

The Report shows that the business volume of national express service enterprises will reach 83.36 billion in 2020, an increase of nearly 70% compared with 2018. With the growth of express delivery volume, the carbon emission of express packaging has become increasingly prominent. In 2020, the total carbon emissions of China's express packaging will be 23.9584 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, which can only be offset by planting trees equivalent to an area of land in Beijing. However, at present, most plastic express packages are buried or incinerated with domestic waste.

The Report shows that the promotion and application of recycled packaging plastics can not only effectively control the generation of plastic waste, but also reduce the carbon emissions caused by express packaging materials. However, in recent years, there are still some problems in the pilot promotion and application of express circular packaging in China, such as the inability to form a closed loop for recycling, the lack of mandatory policies, and the formation of consumer habits.

The implementation of circular express packaging is a systematic project. The Report suggests that, first of all, an industrial chain and an ecological chain should be formed. The problem of circular express packaging should be considered as a whole in combination with garbage classification, plastic reduction and plastic restriction policies. Secondly, the express packaging waste should be included in the construction system of local waste classification and renewable resource recovery for governance. The local government should take the lead as the link "hub" of all parties in the industrial chain, based on the resource utilization, and promote the standardization and standardization of the operating paradigm of the circular express packaging coordination and sharing mechanism. Thirdly, it is suggested to implement the "one-time packaging charge policy+deposit system for recycling packaging" to solve the "difficult to recycle" problem of recycling express packaging. Finally, support enterprises with network system to become urban public environmental service providers, such as express company online stores, large petrochemical enterprise gas stations, etc.