Abandoned by consumers, shortage of express outlets - where is the express carton recycling stuck?

　　Consumers abandon express outlets in short supply

　　Where is the express carton recycling card

　　Our reporter Ma Jing

　　Where does the express packaging carton go after the consumer takes out the goods purchased online?

"Double 11" packages have arrived one after another.

The reporter's recent continuous investigation found that although some express stations have encouraged consumers to leave express packaging to achieve secondary recycling, the industry as a whole has not yet formed a complete express packaging recycling mechanism.

Industry insiders suggest that express packaging recycling needs to build a socialized recycling system, and the competent government departments will guide all parties in the industry to participate, so as to improve the efficiency of large-scale recycling.

　　A large number of cartons are used once and discarded

　　As the "Double 11" parcels arrive at citizens' homes one after another, how to deal with the express cartons with high recycling value has become a tricky matter.

　　Since November, Ms. Yang, a citizen, has received more than 20 express packages, nearly 60% of which are packed in cartons.

Ms. Yang wanted to keep these boxes for the next express delivery, so she put the boxes at the door of her house, but they were taken away by the community cleaners after a while.

　　During the interview, the reporter found that most young people who want to save trouble will directly put the cardboard boxes at the door of their homes or throw them into the trash cans of the community.

Then these cartons will flow into the processing plant through the waste recycling station to be "recycled".

In this recycling mode, a large number of cartons are used only once.

But in fact, many of the cartons have secondary use value.

　　In stark contrast, many express outlets are short of cartons.

When the reporter placed an order for delivery recently, the employees of Shentong, Yuantong and Zhongtong all said that the company would no longer provide new cartons.

"Now I don't buy cartons in large quantities. I just pick up discarded cartons from outside and come back to reuse them." STO courier said.

At present, SF Express and other directly-operated express delivery companies also provide new cartons, but they all charge a fee. SF Express charges from 1 to 6 yuan according to the size of the box, and JD.com charges from 1 to 15 yuan.

　　It is difficult to recycle the express "recycling box" at the door

　　On the one hand, waste cartons are produced in residents' homes, and on the other side, express outlets need a large number of sending cartons.

The easiest way to solve the two problems is to let the courier come to collect them.

Is this possible?

　　A number of express outlets have stated that the current cost of couriers coming to the door is relatively high, and it is not realistic to go to the door alone to recycle cartons.

Some couriers will collect some cartons for customers to use, but they have not formed a scale.

　　"On the surface, most of the express cartons have been recycled, but in fact, they have entered the large social circulation system, which is not as efficient as the small circulation system of a single category or a single industry." Liu Jianguo, a professor at the School of Environment of Tsinghua University, analyzed that the express delivery industry currently passes through society. The large cycle system realizes the externalization of recycling costs, but according to the extended producer responsibility system, whoever produces it should be responsible, and whoever pollutes should pay. The industry is responsible for recycling the packaging produced.

　　Liu Jianguo believes that if express packaging can be reused for its original purpose, the negative impact on environmental pollution and resource consumption will be minimal. Therefore, enterprises should be encouraged to build express packaging recycling and reuse systems.

He suggested that in the future, enterprises can set up a social responsibility department to publicize the proportion of carton recycling and reuse to the society.

At the same time, according to the principle of recyclability and easy recycling, the express delivery industry can consider using higher-quality standardized express boxes and promote them to the whole society.

　　Since 2017, a number of express companies have tested the water and launched circular express boxes. Most of the boxes are spliced ​​by honeycomb panels made of polypropylene plastic. They are light, durable, and easy to fold. They also use Velcro, buckles, zippers, etc. Encapsulated in a single way to achieve zero tape usage.

But at present, the promotion scope of this kind of circulation box is very limited.

Duan Yanjian, project leader of JD Logistics Qingliu Project, introduced that express recyclable packaging is currently only used in the same city or in the same region. If it is used across regions, the transportation and management costs will be high.

At the same time, since the user needs to sign in person to recycle the recycling box, there is also resistance in actual promotion.

　　Collaboratively build a socialized recycling system

　　According to data from the State Post Bureau, from November 1 to 11, postal express companies across the country handled a total of 4.272 billion express parcels.

Calculated according to the industry's average standard of 0.2 kilograms per express package, the "Double 11" shopping festival will generate over 850,000 tons of packaging waste.

　　At the recently held "Exploring the Recyclability of Express Delivery and Green Packaging Promotion Forum", experts and industry insiders offered their suggestions on the recycling of express packaging.

Among them, the importance of terminal infrastructure has been mentioned many times.

Yan Haiying, chairman of Fuhai (Shanghai) Internet of Things Co., Ltd., said that the company is currently exploring recycling models such as centralized recycling in communities and recycling at terminal stations.

　　Taking advantage of the community station, Cainiao also tried to recycle cardboard boxes.

During the "Double 11" period this year, 130,000 Cainiao stations across the country encouraged users to participate in the recycling of cartons through the "carton for eggs".

The part of the old express package left at the station will be reused and used for free delivery.

Statistics show that from November 1st to 11th, the recycling bins of Cainiao Station reached nearly 4 million, and more than 100,000 people use old express packages to send items every day.

However, with the end of "Double 11", without the incentive of "cartons for eggs", it remains to be seen whether consumers can get used to leaving old cartons in post stations.

　　Duan Yanjian believes that building a socialized circular packaging recycling system is one of the decisive factors to achieve large-scale application, and the problem of systemization cannot be solved by one industry or enterprise alone, and requires the coordination of upstream and downstream supply chains.

Taking the application of circular express packaging as an example, it involves many aspects such as consumer participation awareness, terminal infrastructure, standardization, and turnover rate. First, it needs to make efforts in standardization and sharing.

　　Yan Haiying also suggested that the competent government departments take the lead in organizing recycling infrastructure work, so as to guide e-commerce platforms, delivery companies, communities, consumers and other parties in the whole chain to jointly promote the application of recycled express packaging.