Under the anti-waste atmosphere in the whole society, why is it difficult to "slim down" with excessive packaging? A reporter from the Workers’ Daily conducted an investigation.
Some merchants’ packaging is "excessively hard"
Not long ago, Zhang Xiaoli, a white-collar worker in Beijing, grabbed a sample of cosmetics in the live studio. When receiving the courier, she couldn’t help sighing that the merchant’s packaging was “excessively too hard”: unpacking the express carton, inside was a ribbon gift box wrapped in foam paper, opening the gift box, uncovering the wrapping paper, and a fist-sized package box "laying down" On a pile of shredded paper, unpack the two layers of plastic and paper, and it is a 30-ml glass bottle.
During the interview, the reporter found that the phenomenon of excessive packaging of goods is very common: there are 4 packaging boxes for a noodle takeaway, a lipstick box is big enough to hold a pair of shoes, and a bag of snacks has more packaging bags than snacks. Many, the fruit basket is filled with waste paper, and only the top layer is fruit... Some consumers say that the smaller the product, the more exaggerated the packaging can be felt.
"The products and channels of e-commerce companies are highly homogenized, in order to grab the attention of consumers, prompting businesses to make a fuss about packaging and appearance." said Lai Yang, executive vice president of the Beijing Business Economics Association.
"Several Sins" of Overpacking
There is a clear "hard leverage" on how to determine whether a product is over-packaged.
The national compulsory standard "Restriction of excessive packaging requirements for food and cosmetics", which was implemented in April 2010, clarified that the number of packaging layers for food and cosmetics must not exceed 3 layers, the packaging void ratio must not exceed 60%, and everything except the initial packaging The total packaging cost shall not exceed 20% of the sales price of the goods.
"In all aspects of warehousing, transportation, and sales, it is necessary for merchants to provide protective packaging to deal with bumps and bad weather during logistics and transportation." Lai Yang said that excessive packaging usually means that merchants intend to use exquisite packaging to display products. value. However, some consumers have difficulty making professional judgments on product quality and grade, and often judge brand value through the "gold content" of packaging. In this way, merchants will obtain premium pricing opportunities through packaging.
In addition to raising the price of goods, paying less attention to quality and value, excessive packaging is most criticized for causing waste of raw materials and environmental pollution.
Lai Yang said that the current product packaging materials only have a small amount of corrugated cardboard, cans, glass bottles, etc. that can be recycled, and a large amount of packaging waste needs to be landfilled and incinerated. Take packaging plastic bags as an example. They are mostly made of high-pressure polyethylene materials. The toxic gases produced during incineration can cause air pollution and affect human health.
Advocating a new style of simplicity
Lai Yang believes that the difference between product packaging design and experience lies in the aesthetic design, not the complexity of the packaging. He suggested that when choosing packaging materials, businesses should practice the concept of green and environmental protection, and try to use recyclable and degradable materials; product packaging can be analyzed through big data, and the minimum packaging materials can be used to achieve effective mechanical support for the product. Thereby reducing the amount of packaging used; researching and developing new packaging materials, using new technologies to further reduce logistics packaging costs, and forming a simple new fashion.
The reporter found that in recent years, the National Standards Committee has successively formulated more than 10 national standards such as the "General Rules for Restricting Excessive Packaging of Commodities" and "Green Packaging Evaluation Methods and Guidelines". However, due to the lack of specific legal provisions, there are no clear penalties. The standards have not really been implemented. Therefore, it has become a consensus in the industry to speed up the improvement of relevant legislation, establish a penalty mechanism, strengthen supervision and protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
Under the social ethos of "strict economy and opposing waste", consumers have become more and more aware that after tearing off the packaging, the quality and content of a product is ultimately what is consumed.
