France Uses "Green Spot" Sign to Engage in Environmental Protection

In many countries in France and even in the European Union, most of the goods are printed on the green dot mark consisting of two curved arrows chasing each other. This means recycling. Any commodity, as long as the “green dot” logo is printed on the packaging, indicates that its manufacturing company has paid for the recycling of its own product waste packaging, and has participated in the so-called “commodity packaging recycling program”. However, the relevant costs are not over-collected. The real role of economic leverage is reflected in how to charge and spend.

France is a country with a high rate of commercial industrial packaging, and the ratio of packaging waste to other wastes in the average household is 9 to 1. In order to curb the excessive use of packaging materials by enterprises, France formulated the “Regulations on Packaging” in the early 1990s, which required legal producers to bear the cost of some recycling of used packaging. The basic principle of this regulation is: Whoever produces garbage will have to pay for it.

According to the regulations, the "green dot" signage fees paid by French companies are allowed to be partly included in the commodity prices and passed on to consumers. As the user fees are linked to the amount of packaging materials, and the product price is directly related to the market competitiveness of the enterprise, the manufacturers are trying to simplify the packaging and facilitate recycling, thereby reducing costs and making the products more competitive. At present, more than 90% of consumer product packaging in France is printed with “green points.” The European Union currently has 10 countries using this mark, and other member states are also considering introducing it.

How to truly achieve “special funds for exclusive use” is another focus of public concern. For this reason, like other countries in the European Union, France has established an enterprise similar to the association, the "ecological packaging" group. The “Green Point” signage fees paid by enterprises are directly authorized by the government and allocated to the group, which is specifically used for the recycling and reuse of packaging wastes and subject to government supervision.

Eric Geelong, president of “Eco Packaging” Group, told reporters that waste recycling is generally divided into three steps: collection, sorting, recycling and reuse. The group is mainly responsible for the latter two steps. As for the first step, since the company cannot penetrate every corner of France to collect the packaging waste of its own products, the “ecological packaging” group cooperates with nearly 30,000 community agencies in France to collect garbage through the French Association of Mayors. The recycling of household garbage is mainly the responsibility of the community service personnel, while the "ecological packaging" group uses the company's "green dot" logo to provide corresponding subsidies and technical equipment support. In general, the more waste that the community collects and categorizes, the more subsidies it receives.

The above-mentioned mechanism has enabled French companies to participate in the improvement of the enthusiasm for the treatment of packaging waste pollution. In addition, the concept of environmental protection has been deeply rooted in the classification and collection of garbage in France. As a result, the recycling rate of packaging materials in this country has been continuously rising. In 2003, the packaging waste of residents was increased. The recovery rate reached 80%. In addition, garbage recycling also forms a huge industry. According to the joint statistics of the “Ecopack” group and the French Association of Mayors, 63% of waste packaging waste in France was reprocessed into primary materials such as cardboard, metal, glass and plastic in 2003, and 17% of waste was converted. Has become oil, heat and other energy. The industry also directly absorbs more than 10,000 jobs, and indirectly creates tens of thousands of jobs for construction, machinery, installation, design, and service industries.

A small "green dot" sign may seem inconspicuous, but from the two links of production and recycling, it greatly avoids the proliferation of packaging waste and the waste of resources resulting from it, which makes it possible for France to expect an average annual total amount of garbage in the future. The quantity is controlled in a zero growth state.