On 1 August, the EPA officially launched the Guidelines for Reducing Online Shopping Packaging 2.0 (網購包裝減量指引 2.0) and announced a total of 22 businesses that had obtained the Reduced Online Shopping Packaging Logo. This initiative aimed to encourage consumers to choose platforms with the reduced packaging logo when making online purchases, promoting environmental conservation and love for the planet. Additionally, an online shopping packaging reduction forum was held to which experts, scholars, and businesses were invited to share international practices and measures for packaging reduction. Through these exchanges, the goal was to further expand the benefits of packaging reduction efforts.

Since 2019, the EPA has been promoting the Guidelines for Reducing Online Shopping Packaging (網購包裝減量指引), guiding businesses to join the Online Shopping Packaging Reduction Alliance. Many well-known large-scale online shopping businesses have actively participated in response. The shipping volume of the Online Shopping Packaging Reduction Alliance accounts for approximately 60% of the national B2C online shopping shipping volume.

To ensure continuous progress, the EPA announced the Targets and Implementation Methods for Restriction of Internet Shopping Packaging (網際網路購物包裝限制使用對象及實施方式), which was implemented in July. After the implementation, the EPA has been collaborating with local environmental bureaus to initiate random inspections to verify standard operating procedures of businesses and provide guidance to establish self-management practices. In this initial round of inspections, the focus was on the shipping packaging centers of large-scale online shopping businesses that primarily sold cosmetics and daily necessities, books and audiovisual publications, electronic communication equipment, health products, etc. All inspected businesses met the inspection criteria.

The EPA stated that after implementing the packaging reduction measures, the use of packaging material is expected to reduce by up to 90,000 metric tons by 2026, resulting in a reduction of 280,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. At this rate, by 2030, the goal of reducing packaging weight by nearly 50% will be achieved. Through the Online Shopping Packaging Reduction Forum, experts and scholars were able to share international cases and approaches for packaging reduction. Pioneering domestic businesses were also invited to share their measures and experiences in promoting packaging reduction. Through these exchanges, cooperation and connections among upstream, midstream, and downstream businesses were facilitated. Together, these businesses will demonstrate their successful examples to other online shopping businesses that have not yet participated in the packaging reduction initiative and allow them to emulate their effective practices, thus expanding the impact of the initiative.

Excerpt from Major Environmental Policies, July 2023