Courier sector urged to go green as piles of packaging waste threaten climate goal

China’s decarbonisation campaign has its cross hairs trained on the country’s mountain of discarded courier packaging material, as the volume of parcels delivered hits a record high while Beijing is scrambling to meet its ambitious climate goals.

The country aims to establish a system for green courier packaging by the end of 2025 and ban the use of toxic and harmful materials, according to an action plan unveiled by the central economic planner National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the State Post Bureau and six other state authorities.

The country’s express delivery industry consumes more than 9 million tonnes of paper and about 1.8 million tonnes of plastic on average each year, according to official data released in 2020.

China, the world’s biggest generator of plastic waste, kicked off a five-year plan in 2020, setting ambitious targets including banning the production and sale of non-biodegradable plastic bags, free disposable plastic products at hotels and plastic packaging used by courier deliveries nationwide by 2025.

Some of the leading online shopping and logistics companies, including Post owner Alibaba Group Holding’s logistics arm Cainiao, JD.com and SF Express, have also taken action to reduce and replace plastics and other packaging wastes by experimenting with recycled packaging materials and reusable delivery boxes.

E-commerce giants and delivery companies must take the lead in reducing excessive packaging on their own platforms, and promoting recyclable courier packaging, according to the action plan which has set a deadline of end2025 by when at least 10 per cent of the same-city delivery parcels should use recyclable packaging.

China’s annual volume of delivery packages has exceeded the 100 billion pieces mark for three consecutive years since 2021, according to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, which said the growing use of courier services had led to mounting packaging waste.

“As an emerging industry, the express delivery sector has developed rapidly in the past decade, while its relevant supporting laws, regulations, and rules are still under exploration and improvement,” it said.

“The pressure brought on by packaging waste on resources and the environment is closely related to people’s daily lives.”