SOLUTIONS FOR THE MAIL ORDER BUSINESS

Year after year, the mail order business records new record sales. But more shipments also mean more packaging, more waste and more CO2 emissions. In order to limit the impact on the climate, the packaging industry is therefore constantly looking for new, environmentally friendly concepts for packaging and shipping.

Person transporting several shipping cartons on a hand truck

One trend that is becoming increasingly apparent, for example, is the use of reusable packaging such as plastic shipping bags and boxes. The underlying concept is simple: the packaging is quite simply returned after delivery, cleaned and reused.

In practice, boxes and cartons made of corrugated board are still by far the most common shipping packaging in mail order, with a share of around 90 percent ([source, year]). This is unlikely to change soon – for practical reasons, and because corrugated board often performs well in greenhouse gas comparisons (see below).

GREEMHOUSE GAS BALANCE: CORRUGATED BOARD OFTEN SLIGHTLY AHEAD OF REUSABLE PACKAGING

Reusable products generate less waste than disposable products. However, this does not mean that reusable packaging always has the lower greenhouse gas emissions. This is the conclusion of a 2021 analysis by the bifa environmental institute, carried out in cooperation with the Papiertechnische Stiftung (PTS) and commissioned by the German paper industry association DIE PAPIERINDUSTRIE e.V. and the Association of the Corrugated Board Industry (VDW), on the greenhouse gas balances of reusable and disposable shipping packaging.

Close-up of corrugated cardboard structure

As part of the study, various forms of packaging were used (including shipping boxes, cardboard boxes and bags) and examined for their ecological impact on the basis of typical use cases in mail-order and online retailing.

The conclusion: Both solutions have their justification. Which option has the lower greenhouse gas emissions depends on the specific use case. In most of the applications examined in the study, corrugated board shipping packaging performed slightly better. Waste prevention is desirable, but not the decisive criterion, according to the conclusion.

Close-up of corrugated cardboard edge in packaging

CORRUGATED CARDBOARD: ADVANTAGES OVER REUSABLE PACKAGING

The good life cycle assessment of cardboard and corrugated board packaging is due to several aspects. According to the bifa institute, the comparatively low material and energy input in production contributes to the result. The decisive factor, however, was the high protective performance at a low packaging weight.

Reusable plastic boxes are much heavier than corrugated cardboard boxes with the same protective performance. This means that more material is required and more CO2 is emitted during transport. Added to this are environmental impacts from the additional transport and cleaning processes.

The situation is similar for shipping bags: Reusable plastic bags are ecologically more advantageous than cardboard boxes, but they do not perform any better than disposable shipping bags made of corrugated board. Moreover, shipping bags can only be used for certain goods. This means that they are only suitable to a limited extent as a replacement for cardboard boxes.

REUSABLE IN SHIPPING: MIXED ACCEPTANCE

Reusable packaging is not yet widespread in the mail order business. In a representative survey by IFH Cologne, only one third of respondents said they were aware of reusable solutions for mail order - and only around one in nine had already used them.

In terms of acceptance, the study came to mixed results: A large proportion of respondents, 85 percent to be exact, were open to the use of reusable packaging and generally rated the concept positively.

However, 66 percent of respondents also associate reusable packaging with extra effort and do not want to have to do much with the packaging after unpacking.

Person sealing a cardboard box with brown packing tape

Interestingly, the more pronounced the awareness of sustainability issues was among the respondents, the more critical and negative their attitude towards reusable packaging.

Infographic on properties of corrugated cardboard and reusable packaging

CORRUGATED CARDBOARD: CONSUMERS' FAVORITE

According to the IFH study, shipping packaging made of corrugated cardboard enjoys a significantly better image among consumers. More than twice as many consumers would prefer corrugated cardboard if online retailers offered it alongside reusable packaging. There are many reasons for this, frequently mentioned are:

The low effort
With corrugated packaging, no return is necessary and no deposit system is needed.
The renewable raw material base
Corrugated board is a paper-based material made from wood fibres, a renewable raw material, and from recovered paper.
The established recycling route
Consumers explicitly value packaging that can be recycled. Corrugated board can generally be disposed of with waste paper and recycled, provided coatings, laminates or adhesive tapes do not impair this – no return system is required.

Nevertheless, most consumers are in favor of reusing packaging, including corrugated cardboard: Nine out of ten respondents agree that they would like online retailers to offer corrugated cardboard packaging from returns again.

Magazine articles related to this topic

Corrugated cardboard: History, manufacture, structure and types of corrugation Maxi letter: Everything about the dimensions, weight and postage Declaration of conformity - what is it and what must be included?The Triman logo - what it means and how it works!ECMA Codes - what do the abbreviations mean?

Author

Lasse Harder

Learn More