International Forum for Standardization of Packaging and Environment in Beijing
The annual meeting of ISO/TC122/SC4 on Packaging and Environment and the International Forum for Standardization of Packaging and Environment were held by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the Standardization Administration of China (SAC) in Beijing from May 31 to June 4.
Environmental protection, elimination of barriers to trade and promoting of low-carbon economy were the hot issues discussed at the forum. Experts at home and abroad delivered speeches on topics including requirements for the use of ISO standards in the field of packaging and packaging waste, packaging reduction, reuse and recycling, energy recycling and chemical recycling, covering issues of international concern such as packaging recycling, packaging waste reuse technologies, sustainable packaging solutions, new technologies, materials and techniques in compliance with standards on environmental protection, technical trade measures for export commodity packaging, hygiene and safety of food packaging, standards on environmentally-friendly packaging and conformity assessment, and cleaner production of the packaging industry. Various environmentally-friendly packaging products, key technologies for packaging recycling and the huge economic benefits they can bring were introduced. Speeches on chemical recycling of plastic packaging waste, reuse of composite packaging boxes for drinks, application of low-carbon materials in packaging, and low-carbon aspect of honeycomb packaging materials drew great attention from the delegates.
According to the China National Export Commodities Packaging Research Institute (CEPI), packaging waste accounts for about 50% of the volume of municipal waste. In recent years, China has witnessed great progress in reuse and recycling of packaging waste with the industry’s efforts and implementation of national standards including the General Rules of Packaging Waste Disposal and Utilization and the Packaging Recycle Mark. Presently, China recycles 85% of paper containers, 80% of aluminum cans, 75% of tinned plate, over 90% of glass beer bottles and about 50% of plastic containers.
Delegates attending the two events include those from the world’s top 500 corporations and listed Chinese companies engaged in industries like food, beverage, dairy products, beer, medicine and home appliances, representatives from enterprises for production of packaging materials and recycling of packaging waste, and experts in such fields as product designing, quality inspection, formulation and revision of standards and environmental protection.
(Source: AQSIQ)