How can China tame waste and emissions from e-commerce and freight?

(Eco Business, 25 Oct 2019) E-commerce in China is set to eclipse that of the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany and France combined, but it is generating a massive amount of packaging waste and air pollution. Industry players say solutions are in sight.

China is ground zero of the e-commerce boom, which is creating a growing mountain of waste and fuelling carbon emissions worldwide.

Already the planet’s largest carbon emitter, China’s online retail market is set to hit US$1.99 trillion by the end of this year and, by 2020, will eclipse the e-commerce markets of the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany and France combined.

So, when industry players gather to discuss ways to cut e-commerce’s environmental impact in the world’s most populous country, solutions at scale are a given.

E-commerce, which has made life more convenient for urbanites, is here to stay, speakers at last month’s China Sustainability Conference in Beijing, agreed.

The conference, the first of its kind held jointly by the British Chamber of Commerce and Australia Chamber of Commerce, brought together business leaders, policy advisors and journalists to discuss some of China’s topline sustainability issues.

But delivery packaging is accounting for 93 per cent of solid waste growth in China’s megacities, according to Maxime van’t Klooster, general manager at Shanghai-based management consultancy 1421.

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Eco Business, 25 Oct 2019: How can China tame waste and emissions from e-commerce and freight?