In recent years, the problem of some food and cosmetics companies over-packaging their products and passing the costs on to consumers has been reported frequently. This phenomenon of "buying a casket for a pearl" not only wastes resources, increases the burden on consumers, but also causes pollution to the environment, which is not conducive to the healthy development of the market economy. The State Administration for Market Regulation recently revised and issued a new mandatory national standard "Requirements for Restricting Excessive Packaging of Goods Food and Cosmetics" in an effort to reduce resource consumption and packaging waste generation from the source.

The new standard specifies the packaging requirements for 31 categories of food and 16 categories of cosmetics, greatly simplifying the method of determining excessive packaging of goods. Consumers only need to check the weight or volume of the product itself and measure the outermost layer By calculating the volume of packaging, we can initially determine whether the product has excessive packaging problems. At the same time, the number of packaging layers is strictly limited, stipulating that grains and processed products in food should not be packaged in more than three layers, and other foods and cosmetics should not be packaged in more than four layers.

National mandatory standards say no to "excessive packaging"

The Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner, and all kinds of mooncakes are on the market like a flood. While people marvel at the variety of mooncake flavors, they are also overwhelmed by the dazzling array of "fine mooncakes" and "gift mooncakes" on the shelves, packaged in large boxes within small boxes, and decorated inside and out like matryoshka dolls. Especially the "sky-high-priced mooncakes" that have become popular in the past two years. Mooncakes costing 2 yuan each have been made into holiday hard currency. Some mooncake gift boxes come with high-end silk scarves, and some come with two Huawei mobile phones, and the price exceeds 50,000 yuan is not unusual.

Nowadays, the phenomenon of excessive packaging, luxurious packaging, and "椟" being more expensive than pearls can be put to an end.

On September 2, in order to solve the problem of excessive packaging of food and cosmetics, the State Administration for Market Regulation (Standards Committee), together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments, organized relevant standardization technical committees and technical institutions to review the 2009 version of the standards. It has been revised and a new mandatory national standard "Restricting Excessive Packaging Requirements for Food and Cosmetics" has been formulated and released, and will be implemented from September 2023.

It is understood that the new national standard stipulates packaging void ratio, number of packaging layers and packaging cost requirements, as well as corresponding calculation, detection and judgment methods. Specific contents include: First, it standardizes the packaging requirements for 31 categories of food and 16 categories of cosmetics; second, it greatly simplifies the method of determining excessive packaging of goods. Consumers only need to check the weight or volume of the product itself and measure the outermost packaging. The volume of the product can be preliminarily determined by calculation whether there is an over-packaging problem; third, the number of packaging layers is strictly limited. Grains and processed products in food should not exceed three layers of packaging, and other foods and cosmetics should not exceed four layers. Package. The new standards are conducive to guiding green production and consumption, and are also conducive to achieving effective supervision.

The new standard will be officially implemented on September 1, 2023. Considering that after the new standards are released, food and cosmetics manufacturers need to design product packaging in compliance with the requirements of the new standards. At the same time, they need to consume inventory packaging and goods for sale. In particular, cosmetics products have a relatively long shelf life, and the circulation link The consumption cycle is also relatively long. In order to avoid any impact on production and business activities and the creation of new waste, a two-year transition period was set for the official implementation of the new standard on the basis of extensive solicitation of opinions from relevant industrial departments, industry associations and enterprises.

How to identify excessive packaging?

“Look first, ask second questions, and calculate three times”

So what are the manifestations of excessive packaging currently appearing in the market?

The first sign of excessive packaging is: too large gaps. In this regard, the standard provides prescribed void ratios based on the net content of different single items of food and cosmetics.

Ma Aijin, a professor at the School of Food and Health of Beijing Technology and Business University, said: “Specifically, for products with a net content of less than or equal to 1 ml or 1 gram in the package, the packaging void rate must be less than or equal to 85; the net content of all single items in the package For products that are larger than 50 ml or 50 grams, the packaging void ratio should be less than or equal to 30. ”

The second manifestation of excessive packaging is: too many packaging layers. In this regard, the new standards make it clear that the number of packaging layers for grain and processed products should not exceed three, and that for other commodities should not exceed four. However, the new standard also clarifies that if the material layer that is in direct contact with the contents and belongs to the inherent properties of the product, such as rice dumpling leaves, bamboo tubes, hollow capsules, etc., is not included in the calculation.

Ma Aijin said: "The understanding and calculation of the number of packaging layers in the standard is very clear. The packaging layer that directly contacts the contents of food and cosmetics is the first layer. Starting from the first layer, all the way to the outermost layer The first few layers of a sales package are the layers of packaging. Taking tea packaging as an example, the metal or plastic packaging that is in direct contact with the tea is the first layer, and the layers of packaging from there are the layers of packaging. Number of layers. ”

The third manifestation of excessive packaging is: packaging costs are too high. The new standard clarifies that production organizations should take measures to control the cost of all packaging except packaging that is in direct contact with the contents to not exceed 20% of the product sales price. A simple calculation: a mooncake with three layers of packaging is sold for 10 yuan. Then, except for the innermost layer that directly wraps the mooncake, the cost of the second and third layers of packaging cannot exceed 20 of the selling price of 10 yuan. That's 2 yuan.

When purchasing food and cosmetics products, how can consumers quickly determine whether there is an excessive packaging problem?

According to Wei Hong, deputy director of the Standards and Technology Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation, consumers can simply judge whether food, cosmetics and other commodities have excessive packaging problems by "one look, two questions, and three calculations." First, check whether the outer packaging of the product is luxurious packaging and whether the packaging material is expensive. Second, the new standard strictly limits the number of packaging layers. If the packaging cannot be opened, you have to ask how many layers the packaging has and whether the number of layers meets the requirements. The third is to measure or estimate the volume of the outer packaging and compare it with the maximum allowable outer packaging volume to see if it exceeds the standard.

The new standard also clarifies that the volume of food or cosmetics contents is expressed by multiplying the net content by the necessary space coefficient, and the value of the necessary space coefficient depends on the product. Taking wine products as an example, the necessary space coefficient of wine is 13. The allowed packaging void ratio of a 500 ml bottle of liquor does not exceed 30. Based on this, it can be calculated that the maximum allowable volume of the outer packaging of this bottle of liquor is 9285.7 cubic centimeters. Assuming that the length, width, and height of the outer packaging of this bottle of wine are 20 cm, 15 cm, and 30 cm respectively, the actual outer packaging volume is 9,000 cubic centimeters, which is less than the maximum allowable value and meets the standard requirements.

Transitional packaging waste is serious

Correctly guide green consumption

“Research shows that my country’s packaging waste accounts for about 30 to 40% of urban domestic waste. In these packaging Most of the waste is generated by excessive packaging," said Chen Hongjun, deputy director of the Standards and Technology Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation.

According to the "2020 National Annual Report on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Waste in Large and Medium-sized Cities" released by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, in 2019, 196 large and medium-sized cities produced 235.602 million tons of domestic waste. The problems of "garbage-sieged cities" and "garbage-sieged villages" are becoming increasingly serious.

The national standard "Restricting Excessive Packaging of Goods Requirements for Food and Cosmetics" released this time once again emphasizes the requirements for product packaging, which is to reduce resource consumption and packaging waste generation from the source, and reduce the burden on consumers .

Chen Hongjun said that according to the Standardization Law, products and services that do not meet mandatory standards may not be produced, sold, imported or provided. After the transition period, food and cosmetics that do not meet the new standards will not be allowed to be produced and sold on the market. Therefore, companies are called on to rectify and meet the standards as soon as possible during the transition period.

Regarding how to better implement the new standards, Wei Hong said that the first is to implement the main responsibilities of enterprises. Enterprises are the main body in the implementation of standards. Food and cosmetics enterprises must, in accordance with the requirements of the Standardization Law and the Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Waste, effectively raise awareness, take proactive actions, fulfill corporate social responsibilities, implement, use and meet standards as early as possible, and supply more products to the market. High-quality, greener and lower-carbon products.

The second is to strengthen the publicity and implementation of standards. The market supervision department will publicize the new standards in all aspects through various methods such as picture reading, standard interpretation, standard disclosure, and online cloud classes; at the same time, it will also organize standard training activities with relevant departments to prepare for legal and standard supervision. Good technical reserves.

The third is to guide consumers to carry out green consumption. By strengthening publicity and publicity, we will create a green consumption environment and guide consumers to consciously practice the concept of green consumption, advocate conservation, reduce waste, actively choose green, environmentally friendly and low-carbon products, and avoid purchasing or using excessively packaged goods.

It is reported that the State Administration for Market Regulation will work with relevant departments to completely, accurately and comprehensively implement the new development concept, combine the new deployment and new requirements of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, make the full text of the standard freely available, and systematically carry out Standard publicity and implementation training, intensify supervision and law enforcement, and urge food and cosmetics manufacturers to start standard compliance diagnosis and product packaging compliance design as soon as possible. At the same time, create a good public opinion environment for green consumption, improve consumers' awareness of standards that restrict excessive packaging of goods, advocate reasonable consumption, and guide consumers not to purchase over-packaged goods. *** The sky is blue, the ground is green, and the water is clear. Contribute to a better living environment.