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Elaborate mooncake packaging creates additional packaging waste A China Bakery Food and Sugar Products Association official says that 15,000 tons of moon-cakes worth 900 million to 1 billion yuan are being consumed in Beijing this year, causing about 10 percent more packaging waste during the festival than on normal days. Mooncakes, baked cakes made with fillings of nuts, fruits, meat or other stuffing as a part of traditional Chinese Moon Festival fare, are a must each year in September. However, in recent years, moon-cake producers have resorted to ever-expanding efforts to make their packaging more elaborate. They believe that the more attractive the packages, or by adding "gifts" inside the packages such as bottles of wine or a small golden figure of Buddha, people will be more likely to purchase their mooncakes.
Such goods have disrupted the mooncake market and harm consumers' interests. Worse, the packaging is a waste of resources and pollutes the environment when consumers throw the boxes in garbage bins. To revamp the mooncake market and save resources, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Ministry of Commerce (MOC), State Administration for Industry and Commerce and State Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision jointly targeted "sky-high mooncake" makers this year, and a few improvements achieved. This year's Moon Festival saw some moderately and low-priced mooncakes back on the market shelves, selling alongside more extravagant cakes. However, consumers' distorted concepts about the product can make the task difficult. According to polls in Beijing and Shanghai, 65 percent of the respondents take packaging into account when they buy mooncakes. Some 53 percent of them will choose those with good prices while only 37 percent will buy based on taste. More than 90 percent of respondents said they would buy mooncakes as festival presents for their bosses, relatives or friends rather than for themselves or their families. It is a tradition of Chinese people to visit others with presents, usually various foods during festivals and people usually choose those with good-looking packages for the sake of "face," no matter the true value of the food itself. However, tradition is not a persuasive excuse in an environmentally conscious nation like China, since mooncake packaging that is too elaborate can pose an obstacle for the country to save resources. A senior engineer with Beijing Municipal Administration Commission said that mooncake packaging generally contributes to a 10 percent increase in packaging waste around festival time. As a result, another 38,000 to 57,000 yuan is spent each day on waste disposal, a heavy financial and environmental burden. Public support is key to winning this war. As long as people buy the wrong
products, such items will stay on the shelves.
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