BEIJING - In the run-up to the Singles Day shopping bonanza last week, online marketplaces in China wooed shoppers with promises of faster delivery.

At the same time, the government started working on addressing the "aftermath" of online sales - hundreds of millions of metric tons of packaging waste generated across the country each year.

The State Post Bureau recently announced specific goals to make the courier sector green.

By 2020, half of external packages should be degradable, 90 percent of waybills electronic, and packing material consumed for each parcel cut by 10 percent, the SPB said in a document.

Tape and woven bags should be gradually replaced.

"Given the rapidly growing express delivery industry, the impact of packaging waste on the environment cannot be ignored," the SPB said, adding that a courier package regulation system will be built.

The move came amid Singles' Day sales, seen by many as China's version of Black Friday.

The SPB predicted the shopping spree would boost the number of packages handled from Nov 11 to 16 to 1.5 billion, up by 35 percent year-on-year. The daily volume could hit 340 million - three times the usual level.

Despite measures ranging from hiring more couriers to deploying smart warehouses, courier service providers still face the challenge of ensuring on-time delivery. However, what the environment is confronted with is much more serious.

Packages mainly made of paper and plastics have resulted in more consumption of wood and crude oil, according to Yang Jun, deputy secretary general of the China Express Association.

Producing a ton of paper boxes takes 17 10-year-old trees, and three tons of oil is required for a ton of plastic bags, data show.

The recycling of packaging waste is another problem. "Currently, there are no effective systems for garbage sorting and recycling," says Zeng Xianlai, an environmental expert at Tsinghua University.

Packaging materials such as tape, cushions and plastic bags are usually sent to landfills, and the main component of such materials, polyvinyl chloride, may take hundreds of years to degrade. Burning these materials also generates pollutants.

Analysts estimate that China saw 6 million metric tons of packaging waste generated last year, and the disposal costs will be more than 9 billion yuan ($1.4 billion; 1.2 billion euros; ￡1 billion).

Less than 10 percent of packaging materials are recycled, Zeng says.

Yang says, "China should speed up green transformation in the courier sector," adding that all express delivery companies, online stores and consumers should be involved.

Major e-commerce businesses have moved to ease the environmental concerns.

Suning.com President Hou Enlong says the online platform will use plastic boxes for express delivery that can be folded and recycled to replace cardboard ones. The company first tried nonfolding boxes for six months, and 6.5 million cardboard boxes have been saved since then.

Hou plans to increase the total number of boxes next year to 200,000 from the current 50,000 for the delivery of consumer electronics, mother and baby products, and fast-moving consumer goods.

JD.com and Alibaba's delivery unit Cainiao.com has also carried out similar programs that feature biodegradable materials and less packaging.

But inconvenience in delivery and recycling has to some extent curbed the promotion of a more eco-friendly packaging system, and sometimes disposable packaging appears to be much more favored by consumers, such as when purchasing fresh products.

Xinhua

(China Daily Africa Weekly 11/17/2017 page25)