3R1D theory in green packaging design

With the development of green packaging design, 3R1D "theory, Reduce (reduction), Reuse (reuse) Recycle (recycling) and Degradable (biodegradable) principle. These principles of packaging design requirements to form the concept of green packaging design, it includes packaging from idea to manufacture, use and waste recovery, recycling processing.

The so-called green packaging, also known as eco-packaging (Ecological pack). It will directly reduce the final waste output, and radically reduce the extent of the damage to the natural. Therefore, under the conditions meet the basic functions of packaging, green packaging is the minimum amount of appropriate packaging, which includes resource conservation and energy production by increasing the level of technology to reduce emissions of pollutants; reduce the cost of circulation; in the consumer links, reducing the excess supply of goods, less waste. Thus, the designer can consider to start from the packaging materials, packaging style and structure, and packaging decoration, the use of simple design guidelines, the emphasis on reducing unnecessary consumption of materials.

The best green packaging is no packaging. Because the material is the basic of packaging design, less or even no materials are the first choice for green packaging design. Reduce the application of materials directly from the source to control of resources in the packaging life cycle.which doesn't mean the package can remove the burdensome redundancy decoration, get rid of all the useless details, packaging elements of product required to refine and streamline out until the packaging and products to a high degree of unity. To reduce the material in packaging design, designer could start with the new material, the packaging structure and packaging decoration process.

If the resources can be effective used, it will help slow down the speed obtained from the environmental resources and reduce the emission of pollutants. However, just an afterthought processing, recycling, processing packaging waste still need additional input of resources and energy in most cases, as well as many new discharge of pollutants into the environment. If you can make use of the resource content is too low, the processing means is too complex, or high cost of collection of packaging waste, and may even make the reuse and recycling principles can not achieve the purpose of environmental protection.Designers consider packaging become waste after use, you should try to make the packaging is designed to facilitate future processing.

In general, when the packaging material to be processed into finished products, if not one-time use then abandoned, the multi-angle play the function of the existing packaging, will greatly reduce the processing links and a variety of packaging waste decomposition requiredconsumption, extend the service life of the container and packaging doubled, equivalent to double the reduction in packaging waste. But the repeated use of packaging must be packing high can be durable, easy to clean, versatility, and other conditions-based, which requires designers must combine the characteristics of thinking of the packaging materials to design packaging for possible future utility.

Of course, the packaging reuse design must also like product development, to fully understand the psychological needs of consumers, the needs from the consumer's reality, the use of function and beauty of the packaging so that consumers in the process of re-use packaging get the enjoyment of the user-friendly and interesting.

Packaging could being used never make it a waste, can not being used should make it back to the economic cycle. Recycling of packaging waste has great significance in terms of economic or environmental benefits. Overall, the use of renewable raw materials to develop new products can be divided into two kinds of situations, new product manufactured with the original one, the other is the production of different types of new products. No matter what kind of use in each recycling process, generally go through the re-decomposition, the incorporation of new resources, re-processing link, usually made with the original new products, recycled materials can reach 20% ~ 90%, while production into different types of new native materials of the product required at least 25% of the product material usage. Therefore, the designer during the selection of packaging design should fully consider the difficulty of recycled materials used in the future, to avoid excessive processing of materials used wherever possible to retain the native state of a single materials, or to meet the general packaging and the appearance of the conditions required to avoid the use of unnecessary high-quality packaging materials to reduce the loss of a resource cycle.

Green packaging design is the continued use of the integration process of packaging products throughout their life cycle, preventive environmental strategy to achieve the optimal use of resources and energy, minimize pollution of the environment and to offer competitive green packaging products, ultimately achieve the goal of sustainable and harmonious development of economic, environmental and human society.Packaging design, not only to consider the packaging storage, use and transportation needs and other "human-centered design principles, but also to give more consideration to the social environment and ecology, of course, in addition to the reduction, reuseand to recycle these three principles, but also consider other principles, such as ease of recovery, soundness and comprehensive analysis of the entire life cycle of the packaging, the use of a variety of ways and means to achieve the environmental protection of the packaging.