Green Logistics

by Li Zhuoxi

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba recently launched the “Green Logistics 2020” plan across all its platforms， promising that by 2020， all of its express bags will be biodegradable and all boxes recyclable. And other e-commerce and logistics companies will follow suit to launch similar green logistics plans.

China has clearly become a big country for express delivery. The nation handled a total of 40.06 billion express deliveries in 2017， up by 28 percent from the previous year， consuming 19.2 billion boxes， 5.8 billion woven bags， 15 billion plastic bags and about 30 billion meters of packing tape.

In the process of building an ecological China， the express delivery industry has become a major area for improvement. In August 2016， the State Post Bureau issued a plan to advance green packaging in the express delivery industry.

In November 2017， ten ministerial-level government departments of China， including the State Post Bureau， the National Development and Reform Commission， the Ministry of Science and Technology， the Ministry of Environmental Protection， jointly released guidance on collaborative promotion of green packaging in the express delivery industry.

According to industry experts， the Chinese government still needs to formulate national standards on green logistics to ensure the compatibility and interoperability of logistics technology， products and services among different enterprises to encourage them to strengthen cooperation in research and development of new technologies and new models and provide services that are more environmentally friendly.？