The 2021 National Postal Management Work Conference, held on January 4, revealed plans to make China’s vast logistics network more sustainable. China Post will use over 5 million recycled boxes and establish 20,000 stations for recycled packaging throughout 2021.
In January 2020, the government’s National Development and Reform Commission stressed the importance of establishing a green logistics model in emerging fields such as e-commerce, express delivery, and takeaway in their proposal “Further Strengthening Pollution Control”.
Companies have also been taking action to reduce the environmental impact of China’s rapidly growing express delivery industry. During China’s 2020 Singles’ Day shopping festival, JD Logistics’ Qingliu project reduced the amount of disposable packaging waste by 100,000 tons and the usage of recycled bags for deliveries exceeded 90%. Alibaba’s logistics network Cainiao also promoted the use of recycling during the festival.
Ma Junsheng, Director of the State Post Bureau, announced plans for the growth of the logistics industry at the conference. In the next five years, China’s logistic system will expand to have the capacity to handle more than 1 billion parcels per day. China delivered 83 billion parcels in 2020 and that figure is predicted to rise to 95.5 billion parcels in 2021, a 15% increase.
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