Over-glitzy packing is chopping down millions of trees every
year in China and wrapping up corruption, a political advisor has
warned.
Song Xiaohua, who is in Beijing attending the annual session of the National Committee of the
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top
political advisory body, which opened on March 3, called for
effective measures to curb over-packing, accusing it a huge waste
of already inadequate resources.
Paper, rubber, glass and steel, which are all important
materials for industrial production and daily life, have been
lavishly consumed by the packing industry, Song said.
"China produces about 1.2 billion shirts a year, and 800 million
are packed by paper boxes, which consume roughly 240,000 tons of
paper and need to fell 1.68 million trees with a diameter of 10
cm," he said.
Packaging also generates a lot of garbage, most of which is not
degradable, he added.
Statistics show that Beijing's annual garbage amounts to three
million tons, and 20 percent of which comes from excessive
wrapping. The city spends about one billion yuan (US$128 million)
every year treating the garbage.
Over-packing has also fostered wasteful consumption habits and
become a cover-up for some businessmen to gain staggering profits,
as wrapping sometimes take up 70 percent of the total cost of a
commodity, Song said.
"It can even wrap up corruption," he said, citing that
luxuriously-packed festival gifts are now often used to bribe
officials.
There were reports that exorbitant mooncake packs containing
"special accessories" such as wine or fine watches became popular
gifts at traditional Mid-Autumn festival time.
Two extreme cases were a box of mooncakes containing a gold
Buddha worth 180,000 yuan (US$22,500) and another box with the key
to a new apartment worth 310,000 yuan (US$38,750).
It's possible that people buy them to bribe officials, revealed
some insiders.
Song suggested that over-packing be listed as a fraudulent
commercial behavior that is subject to legal supervision and
penalty.
He called on the government to set up official criteria for
packaging and issue taxation and industrial policies to encourage
non-packing common commodities and simple packing for luxuries.
"Packaging should be recyclable and do no harm to the
environment and people's health," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2007)
