Mountains to climb: China’s booming e-commerce market creating waste-management headache, environment at risk

China’s booming e-commerce market may be fuelling increased domestic consumption but it has also created environmental problems due to large amounts of parcel packaging waste.

Most of the waste is made of plastic that takes centuries to biodegrade at landfills, according to a report from China’s State Post Bureau.

Data from the Chinese Institute of Graphic Communication shows there were 20 billion parcels shipped last year by courier services on the mainland. This required the use of 7.5 billion plastic bags, 10 billion cardboard boxes, and 17 billion metres of wrapping tape. The tape alone would be long enough to circle the earth more than 400 times.

However, most of the waste has not been recycled by the responsible e-commerce and delivery service providers, resulting in a huge threat to the environment, said a Chinese researcher who declined to be named.

The waste is increasing in tandem with e-commerce. According to the State Post Bureau, the total number of parcels delivered by courier services in China jumped 48 per cent last year. The growth rate for 2014 was even higher, above 50 per cent.

The bulk of the waste is deposited in landfills without being processed, the researcher said.