TIANJIN, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's third-party terminal logistics service platform Cainiao Yizhan has introduced high-tech pick-up devices and green recycling in university campuses, bracing for the upcoming Single's Day shopping rush.
With the help of high-speed photographic apparatus and face-scanning pick-up lockers, scattered packing boxes and long lines of receivers waiting to fetch their parcels are now things of the past.
In September, Cainiao built its largest campus service station in north China at Tianjin Normal University (TJNU).
"Students will receive a notice as their goods arrive at the campus station, and can find their parcels on the storage racks according to the prompts," said Zhang Jinheng, city manager of Cainiao's campus stations in Tianjin.
According to Zhang, it takes a dozen seconds to complete the pick-up process after the recipient scans the parcel and a credential code on their mobile phone using the high-speed photographic apparatus.
"It's like giving everyone an ETC device for quick service," he said.
Face-scanning lockers running 24 hours have also been installed on the first floor of dormitory buildings at the university, freeing couriers from setting up stalls with packages spread out on the ground.
"We used to search around on the ground for our packages among the pack, which was a lot of trouble and was even more annoying on rainy days," said Li Min, a postgraduate student at TJNU.
Other universities in the country are also taking measures to provide students with more convenient service for the Single's Day sales holiday and get ready for the delivery surge.
Zhejiang University in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou has seen a makeshift "villa for parcels" appear on the sports field every year when the shopping festival comes. The gym at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics turns into a "delivery supermarket" during the period.
With tens of thousands of service stations in communities and campuses nationwide, Cainiao Yizhan, operated by Alibaba's logistics arm Cainiao Network, has also made a separate space to recycle packing boxes and filling materials and offer them to senders free of charge.
The total amount of parcels delivered to TJNU is expected to exceed 20,000 during this year's Single's Day rush. At present, Cainiao recycles about 5,000 packing boxes every day, with more than half of which being put back into use, according to Wang Yao, who is in charge of Cainiao Yizhan's north China regional business.
Cainiao has rolled out more than 5,000 green recycling bins in over 200 cities nationwide, with some 13 million boxes recycled during the 2018 Single's Day shopping bonanza, company data showed.
It has partnered with China's major express delivery operators like STO Express, YTO Express and Shanghai Yunda Express on its recycling campaign, which now covers 31 provinces, regions and municipalities across the country.
