Zhong Bo: Upgrade the constraints on takeaway packaging and accelerate the establishment of a recycling system

At this year's National People's Congress and the National People's Congress, Zhong Bo, a representative of the National People's Congress, suggested that takeaway packaging should be constrained and upgraded, accelerate the establishment of an effective takeaway waste recycling and treatment system, strengthen consumers' sense of environmental responsibility, advocate a simple, moderate, green and low-carbon lifestyle, and help achieve the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutrality.

Plastic waste from takeaways is putting increasing pressure on the environment

Opening the mobile phone to order takeout has become a daily habit for many people. However, with the vigorous development of the food delivery industry and the formation of this living habit, the environmental burden caused by the plastic waste generated by food delivery is increasing, not only disposable lunch boxes, plastic bags, disposable chopsticks and paper towels, but also accompanied by problems such as "excessive packaging".

"A large number of plastic products not only pollute the environment. In addition, takeaway involves a large amount of carbon emissions in the production, transportation and packaging waste stages, which is not conducive to the construction of ecological civilization in China. Zhong Bo said.

According to the "Research Report on the Environmental Impact and Recycling of Packaging Plastics in the Takeaway Industry (2021)", since 2015, China's takeaway industry has begun to show explosive growth, with the number of takeaway orders increasing from 1.7 billion pieces in 2015 to 17.12 billion pieces in 2020, which in turn led to an increase in plastic packaging consumption (waste) from 57,000 tons in 2015 to 574,000 tons in 2020, an increase of 10 times in five years.

In addition, as the number of users and orders in the food delivery industry increases year by year, the pressure on the environment and society is also increasing.

Clarify the main body responsible for the green and low-carbon development of the food delivery industry, and strengthen effective supervision

In Zhong Bo's view, as an emerging field, the carbon emissions of food delivery platforms should not be underestimated. "At present, there are many takeaway businesses on some platforms, and due to cost and other factors, the initiative to use environmentally friendly packaging materials and make environmental protection commitments is poor. The measures to protect the environment of takeaway are mostly limited to the self-advocacy of online takeaway platforms and the call of industry associations, and lack of mandatory supervision or policy incentives. Zhong Bo said.

Improving China's legal and regulatory system on green takeaways, clarifying the punishment mechanism and responsible entities, and strengthening effective supervision can clarify the responsibility for the green and low-carbon development of the takeaway industry and stimulate relevant industries to take practical actions.

"For example, through the formulation of the "Green Takeaway Management Measures", the requirements for green takeaway standards, production, sales, use, recycling and other links are stipulated, and the responsibilities of the government, businesses and individuals are clarified, and at the same time, a green takeaway information disclosure and complaint platform is established, environmental data and supervision of the takeaway industry are released, transparency is increased, social supervision is promoted, and the environmental protection development of takeaway is promoted through mechanism improvement and strong supervision. Zhong Bo introduced.

Restrict and upgrade takeaway packaging, and accelerate the establishment of a recycling system

Not long ago, the brand fast food KFC announced that it would charge a service fee for delivery and packaging as appropriate, pushing the topic of excessive packaging or increasing the burden on consumers on the hot search of Weibo by the takeaway platform's indiscriminate charging of packaging fees.

The phenomenon of excessive packaging of takeaway has existed for a long time, which not only harms the interests of consumers, but also does not meet the needs of the environmental protection transformation of takeaway. How to reduce plastic and plastic has become an important requirement for the environmental protection of takeaway packaging.

In this regard, Zhong Bo said: "The government and takeaway platforms should continue to strengthen the compliance guidelines for catering merchants, and at the same time adopt supporting policies to encourage and support the research and development of catering environmental protection packaging materials, reduce the cost of environmental protection materials, accelerate industrialization to promote the unification and simplification of takeaway packaging, and reward packaging material suppliers and users through the subsidy mechanism to increase the environmental protection initiative of merchants." ”

In addition, the relevant departments should also speed up the establishment of an effective takeaway waste recycling and treatment system. At present, the economic and environmental costs of takeaway garbage recycling are high, and there is no main body specializing in takeaway garbage recycling in the market, and the vast majority of takeaway packaging is still incinerated or landfilled according to domestic waste.

Therefore, Zhong Bo suggested that a subsidy mechanism for the recycling of waste plastics should be established at the national level, and the cost of waste recycling and treatment should be shared by the takeaway platform, the government and individuals. For recyclable takeaway packaging, the platform and the government will jointly establish takeaway packaging recycling points from communities and large office parks, and at the same time encourage professional third parties to enter the recycling process to promote the professionalization and standardization of takeaway packaging recycling.

The food delivery industry is connected to platforms and merchants on the one hand, and consumers on the other. Nowadays, more and more consumers are paying more attention to environmental protection actions, willing to "pay" for greener products, and practicing simple and moderate consumption patterns. Strengthening education and publicity, and strengthening consumers' sense of environmental responsibility are also of great significance for the environmental protection transformation of the food delivery industry.

In Zhong Bo's view, "relevant departments, industry associations, and takeaway platforms should work together to popularize green life-related knowledge to the public through public service advertisements, special education, community activities, etc., and tableware packaging manufacturers and takeaway platforms should also clearly identify the recyclable materials in the packaging to help classify and recycle." Raise citizens' awareness of environmental protection and sustainable development, so as to encourage consumers to adopt more green and low-carbon choices in takeaway behavior, and promote the process of environmental protection. ”

Original topic: Voice of the Two Sessions|Zhong Bo: Guide the environmental protection transformation of the food delivery industry and promote green and low-carbon development