The Study On The System Of "Green" Furniture Packaging

As a result of the improvement of people's daily life and the changing of consumer habits, people become more and more concerned with environment and health these days. Besides the traditional requirements of the appearance, function and quality, there has been a growing demand for furniture to be ergonomically designed, healthy, safe and environmentally-friendly. Currently going "green" is the major trend in furniture industry. There is no doubt that "green" packaging is a significant part in the production of "green" furniture. While still maintaining the functions of furniture packaging such as protection, convenient transportation and facilitating sales, an emphasis on "green" is necessary. Based on the theories of sustainable development, industrial ecology, recycling economy, and life cycle assessment, this thesis discussed how to establish and improve the "green" furniture packaging system.(1) Compared the "green" furniture packaging with the traditional one; analyzed the function of "green" furniture; established the principles for "green" furniture packaging system, which based on the research of fifteen different type furniture manufactures. "Green" furniture packaging system includes five aspects: packaging material, packaging design, packaging technology, waste control, and value evaluation.(2) "Green" packaging materials are the premise of "green" packaging. Therefore, in addition to factors like composition, characteristics, costs, etc., the source, impacts on environment, and the recyclability of materials should also be taken into consideration. Based on the analysis of different packaging materials that is currently in use or has potential to be used in future, a comprehensive evaluation of materials on both function and environmental impact is suggested to furniture manufactures.(3) Divided furniture into two categories: whole and split charging, according to the difference in their packaging methods; established the "green" packaging design system that includes the design of packaging appearance, packaging container, and logo; discussed the packaging principles of different kinds of furniture; designed furniture packaging based on the principles and the experience with real product.(4) In transportation, temperature, humidity and mechanical factors can all cause problems to furniture such as cracks, swelling, deformation, delamination, and so on. Beyond the basic packaging procedures, appropriate advanced packaging technologies such as cushioning packaging,assembly packaging,spiral-wrap and shrink-wrap packaging should be applied when needed to provide better protection; however this extra protection should not be hazardous. Based on the analysis of different technology, we suggested to build packaging production lines for practical use and provided technology basis for reference.(5) While packaging industry contributes to both economy and society, at the same time it consumes resources and results in pollution as well. Developed countries like German, France, and British have already published regulations, and built the waste recycling system. Our country started work on this area much later. Even now the regulation is not perfect yet and the technology still needs further improvement. Using the theory of recycling economy, we come up with methods of managing furniture packaging wastes in the levels of manufacturer, community, and society respectively.(6) The cost management of "green" furniture packaging is also an important part in considering the total cost of furniture. In addition to the traditional cost of material, labor, and design, the cost of handling package waste (either recycling or disposal) should be included. We summarized the rules of "green" packaging cost through the analysis of companies' real cost. In the end, we introduced a method of evaluating packaging value to "green" furniture packaging.(7) The exportation of furniture is only about furniture itself. It also includes the incorporated packaging. Our country is a large exporter of furniture. Trade barriers on packaging can seriously affect our exportation of furniture. To avoid such a "green" barrier, besides making furniture itself more environmentally friendly, we should focus on the "green" packaging as well. This thesis analyzed the current situation of furniture exportation, the cause of trade barrier on packaging, and its influence on furniture exportation. Based on all the analysis, we provide useful suggestions to furniture manufactures regarding trade barrier on packaging.