The General Office of the State Council issued a document on Dec 14, urging related departments to implement a new concept of development and promote a green revolution in express delivery packaging.

It outlines plans to strengthen management of e-commerce and express delivery, increase supplies of green packages, foster a new mode of package recycling as well as build a corresponding system of laws, standards and policies.

By 2022, laws and regulations regarding the express delivery packaging field will be further refined, and an incentive and restraint mechanism for package management will take shape, according to the document.

And by 2025, a green concept-based system including laws, standards and policies will be established comprehensively and a long-term mechanism for management of package production, usage, recycling and disposal will be built. In addition, e-commerce will not do secondary packaging, and the number of recyclable packages will reach 10 million.

To push forward green packaging, the document called on efforts to reduce package materials at the source and raise the standardization level of the packages through unifying their size, physical properties, and performance on safety and environmental protection.

And, in order to reduce secondary packaging, it required e-commerce platforms, express service companies and commodity producers to strengthen coordination to design and use appropriate packaging.

It also encouraged work to promote recyclable packages and build related infrastructure with the construction of smart cities and communities.

The collection and disposal of packaging waste should also be standardized, and technologies such as intelligent packaging and separation of tape from cartons should be adopted.