Is Next-day Delivery a Cause of Packaging Waste?
One of the appeals of online shopping is convenience. You can browse at leisure and then request next-day or even same-day delivery at the checkout. Yet, could our expectation of a fast shipping service be a cause of packaging waste?
Speedy Delivery Leads to Packaging Waste
In a recent radio interview, Andy Barnetson, Director of Packaging at the Confederation of Paper Industries offered food for thought. He suggested that online shoppers’ desire for speedy delivery was one factor leading to packaging waste.
To explain, he said that e-commerce companies typically have multiple packaging sizes to ship orders. If supplies of a best-fit box run low, packers have two options; wait for the boxes to be restocked or use a bigger box.
The timeframe for restocking may be short, yet the pressure to get orders processed for next-day delivery means a bigger box is the default option. This requires more packaging – void fill – to protect the goods in transit. The recipient sees all this packaging and wonders why the company didn’t use a smaller box.
E-commerce & Consumer Responsibilities
Andy acknowledged that many e-commerce companies were actively working with e-commerce packaging manufacturers to optimise boxes. Most see it as their responsibility to reduce the volume, without compromising on protection. Stronger, thinner and lighter-weight cardboard was being used to help get the balance right.
He added that consumers could also play a part by considering whether they need orders delivered that fast. Sometimes it is necessary, but not always. A longer timeframe would increase the chance of the right boxes being used and packaging waste being reduced. That’s worth considering as we approach the busiest shopping season of the year.
The full radio interview featured on the Tammy Gooding show on Monday 17 October 2022:
