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Stop waste in packaging

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-25 07:40

Stricter measures must be taken to stop the waste in moon-cake wrapping, says an article in Qianjiang Evening Post. The following is an excerpt:

Recently, with the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, several regulatory bodies have jointly issued a notice to strengthen the control on the over-packaging of moon-cakes.

Although relevant government departments have previously regulated the over-packaging of moon-cakes and their sky-high prices have thus been checked to some degree, over-packaging still exists in some venues, especially high-end hotels and restaurants.

The over-packaging of moon-cakes not only wastes resources, but also breeds the extravagant mindset among people. The short-term seasonal crackdown on the over-packaging cannot remove this ugly social tumor, so we should take long-term measures to check the waste.

The country should adopt the compulsory reclaim system for the over-packaging of moon-cakes, which means the manufacturers of moon-cakes should shoulder the responsibility for reclaiming the wrapping from consumers at a certain price.

In addition, officials of the regulatory bodies should go down to the sales venues and restaurants for on-the-spot checks; a prize-giving system for reporting offences should be launched to encourage consumers and the public to actively join in.

(China Daily 08/25/2008 page7)