China has made substantial advancements in the green transformation of express delivery packaging during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025) period, according to the State Post Bureau.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday morning, Lin Hu, director of the bureau's Market Regulation Department, said that innovative technologies and new scenarios for recycling and reuse in express packaging have continuously emerged over the period.
Packaging reduction measures, including the use of streamlined tape and lightweight waybills, have been widely adopted across the industry, he said, adding that electronic waybills and reusable transfer bags are now generally used, with the packaging standardization rate reaching 86 percent.
Meanwhile, according to Lin, the number of layers of packaging boxes and the thickness of packaging bags have been reduced by more than half and the width of adhesive tape has been reduced by 25 percent.
The official also underscored the importance of intelligent packing algorithm, which he said has helped to reduce nearly 20 percent of material consumption. Over 800 million paper boxes have been recycled and reused annually, he noted.
"The green, reduced and recyclable levels of express delivery packaging have continuously improved. Modern information technologies such as artificial intelligence, mobile Internet, cloud computing, big data and blockchain have reshaped the operation and organization models as well as the working processes of express delivery, enhancing the momentum of green and low-carbon development, and effectively reducing the logistics costs of the whole society," said Lin.
At present, the industry operates more than 1,000 green distribution centers, over 12,500 green service outlets, and maintains a fleet of more than 75,000 new energy and clean energy vehicles.
China accelerates green packaging in express delivery
