The hottest green packaging is on the rise

With the progress of human civilization and the development of social economy, "green" and "environmental protection" have gradually become the common voice of the world. Green mountains and green waters, fresh air and natural non-toxic food once belonged to mankind, but with the establishment and long-term development of industrialized society, various industrial and agricultural pollution opposite to "green" and "environmental protection" flooded every corner. People in a commercialized society are exposed to all kinds of commodity packaging all the time, and commodity packaging is inevitably facing the "green tide"

the concept of green packaging

"green packaging" is a new concept derived with the progress of society. It is the embodiment of human civilization. Green packaging refers to the packaging that is harmless to the ecological environment and human health, can be reused and regenerated, and conforms to the strategy of sustainable development, also known as ecological packaging. From a technical point of view, green packaging refers to an environment-friendly packaging developed with natural plants and related minerals as raw materials, which is environmentally friendly, harmless to human health, conducive to recycling, easy degradation, and sustainable development. In other words, its packaging products should meet the requirements of ecological environmental protection from the selection of raw materials, product manufacturing, to the whole life cycle of use and waste

the means of realizing green packaging

in order to achieve the purpose of green packaging, we should start with green packaging materials and packaging design

1. Green packaging material

degradable material is a kind of green packaging material worthy of in-depth research and development. After use, this material will gradually decompose and restore in the natural environment under the action of photosynthesis or microorganisms in soil and water, and finally re-enter the ecological environment in a non-toxic form and return to nature. For example, a French dairy company produces an ecological packaging box after mixing the substances extracted from beets with minerals

there are also the following kinds of green packaging materials:

① edible packaging materials: edible packaging materials based on plant polysaccharides or animal polysaccharides mainly include starch film, modified cellulose film, animal and plant glue film, chitosan film, etc

② degradable plastic: refers to a kind of plastic whose chemical structure changes in a specific environment that causes performance loss within a specific time. Degradable plastic packaging materials not only have the functions and characteristics of traditional plastics, but also can be degraded and reduced in the natural environment through the action of ultraviolet rays in the sun or microorganisms in soil and water after the service life is completed, and finally enter the ecological environment in a non-toxic form

③ reusable and recycled packaging materials: for example, beer, beverages and other packaging are packaged in glass bottles, which can be used repeatedly. For example, polyester bottles can be regenerated in two ways after recycling

④ paper material: the raw material of paper is mainly natural plant fiber, which will decay quickly in nature, will not cause environmental pollution, and can also be recycled for papermaking. Now many large international companies use recycled paper for the production of annual reports and promotional materials, and use recycled paper to make stationery and stationery, so as to reflect their green purpose of paying attention to the environment, and also establish a good corporate image. Paper materials are also used for pulp injection parts, composite materials, building materials and other purposes. In addition to the advantages of light weight, low price and shock resistance, pulp molded products also have the characteristics of good air permeability

the research and development of green packaging materials has greatly reduced the use of non degradable packaging materials, alleviated the pressure of the ecological environment to a certain extent, reduced the depletion of oil resources, reduced environmental pollution, and also solved the restrictions on China's export commodities caused by the international prohibition of the use of non degradable packaging materials. The wide use of green packaging materials is of great significance, whether from the practical point of view of earth protection, from the overall perspective of the sustainable and healthy development of the national economy before use, or from the perspective of high-tech packaging materials technology. Although there are still some problems with green packaging materials at present, such as poor thermoplastic materials, high cost, complex production process, unstable products, narrow application range, potential dangers of packaging materials in contact with food, etc., we have reason to believe that with the cross penetration of environmental science, biological chemistry, polymer chemistry and other disciplines, these problems will be gradually solved

2. Packaging design

the accurate and reasonable selection of materials in the packaging design link, coupled with perfect creativity, can also play a decisive role in the development of green packaging. In addition, in the design, saving materials is also one of the contents of green packaging. If a package overemphasizes the structure and uses layers of wrapping paper and boxes, it is intended to emphasize the grade of commodity packaging. Although the decoration is exquisite and the design taste is high, it is also not worth advocating due to waste of materials. Moreover, in terms of design language, more emphasis should be placed on and publicity of environmental protection information, so as to create a green packaging atmosphere between patterns, product names, colors and words

in a word, in terms of packaging design, we should start from many aspects, such as material selection, structure and function, manufacturing process, packaging mode, storage and transportation mode, product use and waste disposal, and comprehensively refer to the utilization of resources, environmental impact and solutions. The principle of saving is always used in the design to minimize energy consumption, facilitate disassembly, and recycle materials and components

green in packaging and printing

packaging and printing is an integral part of the packaging industry, and also faces an environmental protection problem. "Green printing" is a new concept that has frequently appeared in the printing industry in recent years to follow the trend of world environmental protection

the traditional gravure printing ink in packaging and printing contains volatile solvents harmful to human body, which not only directly endangers the health of workers in gravure printing workshop, but also pollutes the goods packed in the printed packaging. This is a serious problem that needs to be solved urgently in the packaging and printing industry. Using flexographic printing instead of gravure printing should be a development trend. In addition, actively developing and developing water-based inks to replace solvent based inks is also a main way

over the past 10 years, flexographic printing has emerged in the field of packaging and printing at home and abroad. In addition to its own technical advantages, one of the very important factors is that flexographic printing meets the requirements of environmental protection and green packaging. However, the new EU standard also stipulates some experimental methods, which consider the extensive use of non-toxic, solvent-free, environmental pollution-free inks and UV inks in actual scenes

nowadays, flexo printing technology has made obvious technological breakthroughs. Wide, medium and narrow width flexographic printing machines have taken a step towards high-speed and multi-function. In particular, the continuous innovation and development of printing plates, substrates, water ink and alcohol ink manufacturing technology have made flexographic printing technology have broad development space in trademark, paper, folding carton and corrugated carton printing. The application of direct digital laser engraving technology in flexographic plate making gave birth to seamless version, which made flexographic technology a big step forward. Seamless version is suitable for multi-functional flexo printing production lines for printing various composite materials. At the same time, it can also be used for rotary silk and UV flexo glazing and rotary bronzing. It also makes the substrate of flexo printing develop from Kraft linerboard, whiteboard, coated paper, paper to cellophane, candy paper, gold card, silver card, aluminum foil, etc

the development of flexographic ink has experienced different periods of aniline ink, solvent ink, alcohol soluble ink, water-based ink and UV ink. The application of water-based ink and UV ink gives flexographic printing wings for green packaging services

flexographic printing is widely used in the packaging industry. According to the statistics of authoritative institutions, flexographic printing accounts for about 70% of the packaging market in Europe, while offset printing and gravure printing account for 15% respectively. The statistics of the French market are also similar: flexo printing accounts for 67%, gravure printing 18% and offset printing 15%. Flexographic printing has dominated the corrugated packaging and handbag Market for a long time, and its share in the flexible packaging sector is also growing. The current situation in the European market is: the ratio of flexographic printing to gravure printing is about 60 to 40. It is predicted that flexographic printing has a large growth space in folding cartons and folding paperboards. At present, this kind of packaging mainly adopts offset printing. At the same time, the expansion trend of flexographic printing will also affect various narrow width printing fields, including self-adhesive labels

water based inks are generally composed of insoluble pigments, water-soluble or water dispersible resins, pure water, a small amount of ethanol and additives. Its biggest feature is that it significantly reduces the emission of organic volatile matter (VOC) into the atmosphere, thus preventing air pollution and improving the printing environment. It can completely eliminate the harm of some harmful substances in solvent based ink to human body and the pollution of packaged goods. It is especially suitable for the printing of food, beverage, medicine and other packaging materials

because the main solvent used in water-soluble ink is water rather than organic solvent, the core of water-based ink - binder is mainly composed of water-based resin, which is the main difference between it and solvent ink and alcohol soluble ink. The main components of water-based inks are special colorants and gold, which also closely follow the development trend of household appliance industry, such as water-based binders and defoamers. The key of water-based ink technology is the formation of water-soluble resin. Now the main formulas include polyvinyl alcohol, methyl cellulose, latex, acrylic resin, maleic rosin resin, water-based amino resin, etc. Water based inks are characterized by low viscosity, high concentration and quick drying. It is its low viscosity fluid characteristics that promote the good transfer performance of the ink. The flexo press can complete the complex ink transfer and ink transfer process with only one corrugated roller. Due to its fast drying, water resistance and fast drying speed, flexographic ink has no adverse effects and faults, and is especially suitable for high-speed printing of absorbent or non absorbent substrates

in addition, from the perspective of printing, new international printing technologies and breakthroughs that can serve "green printing" are also emerging. For example, CTP technology, which has developed in full swing in the printing industry in recent two years, can greatly reduce the plate making process and avoid the pollution of various drugs and water. Because photography technology uses the photoelectric phenomenon in solids and forms images with the help of physical processes, without ink and solvent, it reduces the pollution to the environment. Powder printing is a direct printing method that uses toner to spray directly onto paper and other recording media. It can quickly obtain stable high-quality prints at low cost. Powder printing is attractive because of its less color dislocation, multi-step gray scale, high-speed printing and low cost

main measures for developed countries to develop green packaging

at present, the international green packaging system has become one of the main contents for developed countries to set green standards. According to relevant systems, in recent decades, developed countries have taken measures to formulate laws and directives related to packaging with clear environmental protection measures, mainly including the following:

① prohibit the use of certain packaging materials in the form of legislation: for example, prohibit the use of packaging materials containing lead, mercury, copper and other components by legislation, appliances that cannot be reused, and packaging materials that do not reach a specific recycling ratio

② establish a storage return system: many countries stipulate that alcoholic beverages and soft drinks should all use recyclable containers. Some countries (such as Denmark) require that if they cannot meet this standard, they refuse to import

③ implement taxation