China Strengthens Green Packaging Rules to Cut Delivery Waste

China Introduces an Amendment to Green Packaging

China’s new amended regulation is marking many changes that focus on reducing packaging waste in the delivery sector. The new regulation came into force on June 1, is the first packaging-focused chapter. The focus of the chapter is to avoid excessive wrapping, preventing environmental pollution through minimizing resources. The industry experts are also backing the initiative towards sustainable and high-quality packaging development.

China stands dominant in the express delivery market in the world, which handled over 175 billion parcels in 2024. Ding Hongtao, the director of the Legal Affairs Department at China Express Association, said, “This vibrant growth has led to a surge in packaging waste, making sustainable practices a critical priority.” The green initiative is already working at an exceptional level, where in Pinghu, East China’s Zhejiang province, a local packaging company is now using 100% recycled cardboard for producing corrugated paper. The manufacturing point of the company manages the shredding, filtering, refining, and other processes.

General manager of Jingxing Packaging Materials Co., Hu Zhonghua, said, "For every tonne of corrugated paper, we use about 1.1 tonnes of recycled boxes." He added that even the leftover scraps from box production are cycled back into the paper mill, forming a closed-loop system. A local logistics center in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, has also replaced the use of single-use plastic wrap with reusable stripping. Shunxinhui, a leading supply chain technology, has managed to eliminate around 300 tonnes of plastics annually.

Tsinghua University’s professor Liu Jianguo said that “China is forming a green supply chain for express packaging.” The data also shows that 248 types of packaging products from more than 100 companies are under certification for green products in the country.

The head of Industrial Park Gao Jiaqi said, "By strengthening coordination with suppliers, the share of direct shipments to customers without repackaging has risen from about 5 % a few years ago to 25% last year. And we expect the ratio to hit 40 per cent this year,"