Excessive Packaging to Be the Next Focus of Crackdown in China’s Cosmetics Sector

Key terms:

• Packaging interspace ratio: The ratio of the package volume deducting the necessary space occupied by the contents to the total package volume.

• Necessary spatial coefficient of commodity: Calibration factor on the space necessary for protecting foods and cosmetics. Its value is determined by product type.

Excessive packaging, also called over-packaging, describes a product whose packaging interspace ratio, packaging layers, and packaging costs exceed the necessary function requirements, which are redundant for or unwanted by the customers. Amidst the increasing homogeneity of products, services, and channels, the purpose of excessive packaging may be to catch consumers’ attention and boost product sales among the fierce market competition. However, it can not only cause unnecessary resource waste and environmental pollution but also push product prices up, disrupt market order, and harm the consumers’ interests.