P&G Launches Express Plastic Reduction Initiative in China
- Chaileedo Press
- Jun 10, 2022
- 3 min read
To celebrate World Oceans Day, P&G China shared its secret to plastic reduction in express delivery - air capsules. The packaging is made from a single recyclable material and can be 100% recyclable. In addition, P&G China said it "wants to share the results with the entire beauty industry" and welcomes other Chinese cosmetics companies to purchase from its Shanghai-based manufacturer.
In celebration of World Oceans Day, P&G China recently shared on its official WeChat how the company is "reducing plastic" in its courier packaging to provide more feasible solutions to prevent express plastic packaging from entering the ocean.
Currently， the Chinese use mainly cartons and plastic to express packaging, with the former accounting for about 87% of the total weight of supplies and the latter for about 10%. The recycling rate of cardboard boxes is high, so pollution and waste are mainly reflected in plastic packaging, of which plastic bags, plastic tape, and express internal plastic cushioning are known as the express industry's "three major pollutions".
To target the problem at the source, the supply chain packaging innovation director of P&G Greater China Yang Wanmin led the team to launch the air capsule. It is understood that Yang Wanmin launched a series of e-commerce packaging since 2017 to solve the problem of secondary packaging.
According to P&G China, this air capsule uses 100% polyethylene material, which does not require a cardboard sleeve, tape closure, or cushioning material when packing. After use, it does not have to go to the incineration plant, but can return to the recycling plant, and be downgraded to be rebuilt into new plastic packaging or filler.
In February this year, the air capsule was awarded the "Double Easy Certification" ("Double Easy" means easy to recycle and easy to regenerate) by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation and the China Materials Recycling Association, which made it become the first express packaging product in China to receive this certification.
Yang Wanmin said he will next lead his team to study how to reduce the cost of air capsules and try to achieve true recycling, including the use of more diverse single materials (such as sugar cane and other renewable resources).
After the air capsule debuted at the Shanghai Fair last November, Yang Wanmin's team has been preparing for its mass production. The new production line they have developed is located in Shanghai. Otherwise, the mass production of air capsules started immediately upon resumption of production in Shanghai. Although the air capsule has been awarded 12 patents worldwide, P&G does not intend to use the product exclusively, but "wants to share the results with the entire beauty industry" and welcomes other Chinese cosmetics companies to purchase from its Shanghai manufacturer.
It is worth mentioning that reducing packaging waste is also part of P&G China's "Mission 2030", which was launched in 2020. Specifically, "Mission 2030" has three major environmental goals: the first is to achieve carbon neutral operations, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50%, use 100% renewable energy in China factories, and reduce carbon emissions by 50% per kilometer of transportation; the second is to achieve 100% recyclable or reusable packaging, and eliminate secondary packaging for 80% of e-commerce products; the last is to improve water efficiency in production by 35%. 3. 35% more efficient use of water for production.
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