Reduce packaging, make deliveries greener
The rapid growth of online shopping and express delivery services has given rise to huge amounts of rubbish in China, says a recent cankaoxiaoxi.com report. Last year alone, 16.95 billion meters of adhesive tape and 9.9 billion boxes were used to deliver the purchases of online shoppers.
The contradiction in economic development, which online shopping helps boost, and waste creation and thus environmental degradation could not be more self-evident. And as China Post data show, the problem will only grow as the 48 percent year-on-year of delivery services in 2015 suggests.
Experts say excessive packaging for products dispatched through courier agencies to meet online shoppers' demand is generating increasing amounts of trash and the existing recycling system cannot cope with them. Many would argue that, if the waste cannot be recycled, why not dump them in landfills or consign them to incinerators?
