-- Zhu Zhongyan
In the context of globalization considering ecological balance, protecting the environment, and saving energy, the international community generally carries out green packaging projects and is organized and promoted by a group of organizations such as the Packaging Design Association. In order to promote China's green packaging design business, it is necessary to introduce relevant knowledge of green packaging and related information on foreign green packaging.
Some people will have such worries: Will green packaging make design or merchandise unattractive? Of course, it cannot be said that design is omnipotent. Any problem can be solved by design. It is necessary for the design to do what it is necessary to do. Objective and concrete understanding. The ecological problem that exists in packaging refers to the problem of causality between artificial product packaging and the natural environment. In order to adapt the technology to the economic problems in the process of materials, processing, etc., and further realize the ecologicalization, it is necessary to have a certain understanding of the total amount of energy consumed by the package during its lifetime. Understanding how to adapt to economical technology, how to use it becomes a problem that the design should participate in. Recycling law or waste recycling is an understanding of the legal and social structure. Even if it is a green package that conforms to technology and system, depending on the living person, there are still various problems, such as inconvenience due to difficulty in understanding or unsatisfied desire caused by shabby appearance. Capture and understand the inconveniences and desires of those living in the world and solve the problems. Starting from this point; providing a new value through green packaging is an important issue that design should participate in.
Any kind of packaging cannot escape the destiny of becoming a waste after completing its mission. And in daily life, as long as the packaging is near, it will obviously become a kind of waste. Therefore, there are also people who advocate the "no packaging" approach, but that seems to be too short. In order to make articles from the place of production, through circulation, to the place of consumption, packaging has become an indispensable thing in modern society. During the production and handling of articles caused by unpackaged or incomplete packaging The resulting loss of raw materials and energy will be even more severe. In some cases, the items may even be used as waste if they are not yet used. Problems can also arise if you want to maintain the hygiene of the packaged goods.
However, waste does indeed reach a stage where it must be reduced anyway. First, the amount of waste is nothing more than the performance of resource consumption. Second, the area of ​​land used to fill it in the final treatment stage of waste is limited. This is a problem that faces the reality. Therefore, taking the issue of waste as a point of view will become a specific point of entry when considering how to achieve green packaging design. That is, how to reduce waste (garbage), how to remove it, and how to use it effectively?
In the design and planning of previous product planning and packaging, the specific methods adopted to achieve green packaging include:
1, "reduction"
Reducing waste will save resources and save energy. The “partial reduction†of the reduction factor is a method of removing some of the extra components of the package that were previously composed of many components. Among them, some are caused by the immaturity of technology, and many are due to the pursuit of vanity or due to the habits of the invasion. In order to discard it, it is necessary to have courage. At the same time, regarding vanity and habits as bad habits requires the conversion of values ​​and feelings of both companies and consumers. It is certainly essential to include the mass media of advertising in this process, but if you want to make the simplification of the items caused by the partial reduction not to cause shame on the sensibility, you must expect the power of packaging design.
2. "Abandoning Easiness"
When you discard a used package, you will inevitably encounter many confusions. To remove this annoyance from consumers and promote proper abandonment, it is the mission of green packaging design. There are also things that cannot be kept or can't be recycled in the package. There are two main reasons for this. First, even if it can be recycled, the energy it consumes is often greater than waste disposal. Second, that kind of situation can only be garbage disposal. Therefore, the existing combustion treatment is effective. The burial method used so far will put pressure on the remaining small amount of landfill. “Combustion facilitation†refers to the use of combustible materials. At this time, materials that are low in thermal damage to the incinerator and have little residue after combustion are sought. Selecting or using this material has become a topic of design.
"Safety materialization" means not only that no toxic substances are generated and remained after combustion, but also that it is included in the recycling process, and that it is not toxic after burying or being scattered. widely. It is only natural to implement "safety materialization" before design.
"Disruption prevention" refers to a protection method that is taken to protect the environment from contamination caused by the scattering of small parts in the package. Typical examples include open parts of cans and bottle caps that are fixed to the bottle body. Many should be dealt with before designing.
"Differenceless" and "ease of ease" refer to the imputation work done for the combustion process or for the recovery that promotes retention and recycling. Especially in recycling, after different items are mixed and recovered, the cost required for their regeneration will increase, and not only this, sometimes the mixing of different items will even cause damage to the processing system. Therefore, of course, we should avoid mixing different materials, seek the "differentiation" brought about by the same material, and "easily separate" the materials when they are mixed, and help consumers choose the appropriate disposal method. Therefore, in the case of irreproducibility and ease of differentiation, efforts are made in terms of the material composition, structure, and separation method of the packaging.
"Reducing volumetricity" means reducing the package volume after use. The bulky packaging is always called annoying when it comes to the retention phase before discarding, and when it is discarded or recycled. Therefore it may not be able to abandon them correctly. This incurs a low recovery rate. Oversized packaging has gradually lagged behind the trend of the times.
3. "Use of recycled materials"
Effective use: 'recycled paper', 'recycled pulp', 'recycled plastic', 'recycled glass', etc. In the recycling process there is both material recovery and energy recovery. If you do not actively use recycled materials during material recycling, you will endanger the entire economy.
Common sense often thinks that the strength and appearance of recycled materials are inferior to those of original materials. In order to ensure the quality of materials, it is expected that technological advances will be made, and how to improve the appearance is the design mission. At this point, if you stick to common sense based on original materials, you will not be able to solve the problem. The "beautiful character" of each recycled material is used emotionally, and that kind of recycled material can be effectively used.
4. "Refilling"
Each time the packaging is not thrown away, it is used as a "female container." The way to replenish the packaged items with simpler packaging is the so-called "refilling." It can be divided into two major categories: replacement of "packed items" to supplement "content replacement" and exchange of "partial replacements" such as chuck-like components.
Regardless of the method used, the first thing to look for is the physical durability and functional convenience that can support the long-term use of the parent container, and the three-step formal tool that is ready for never being annoying.
Second, during the replenishment period, both the material and the value of the packaged goods must be the same. It is necessary to display the design with an iconic operation to facilitate the replacement and replacement of the content. The operation is simple and easy. In short, the dual preparation of information and tools is necessary.
In addition, there are also problems with refilling. Consumers repeatedly use, discard, and repurchase parent containers. As long as the mother container is a formal thing, it will certainly cause a lot of waste. It is of course necessary to prevent appeals from the corporate side, but in the end it is related to the consumer's understanding and attitude.
5. Permanently used "returnable"
The widely used milk bottles, beer bottles that are still alive today, are used repeatedly as so-called "returns." In this way, in general, in order to seek the durability of the package (container), heavier items are often used. In order to empty the container during recycling, the delivery and recycling must also consume a relatively large amount of transportation energy. In addition, cleaning containers also requires energy. Therefore, from the perspective of total energy consumption, it cannot be said that all are good.
On the other hand, in every case where this method is used, if the package can be returned, the efficiency of maintaining, recycling, and recycling the energy of the cycle will increase, and it will become an ecological product.
Not only that, is it green packaging? It must be determined in each case. It is very dangerous to generalize whether it is good or bad. It should be considered that "there is no distinction between superiority and inferiority, but there are only issues that are appropriate under various circumstances."
In the returnable method, designing the container as much as possible to eliminate the waste caused by the transport has become a fundamental issue. If you stand on the side of the consumer, there are naturally no problems with the usual way of using beer bottles, but if this is not the case, if you want to adopt other returnable methods, you need to adopt some methods to make them understandable.
6. Recyclable "recycling"
Recycling is divided into material recovery and energy recovery. Material recovery can be divided into two categories: the recycling process is open to the entire society's open system and the closed system is limited to one corporate product. The disposable camera is a typical example of the latter. It was recycled by a camera-type film store, then recycled on a per-manufacturer basis, and then reused. A closed recycling system was established at each manufacturer. Therefore, this kind of camera (film with a lens in the foreground) is not called "throw it with it" but it is called "finish it". This is because of a sense of recycling.