PACKAGING OPTIMISATION AND MORE SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING

Do you have a business? Are you concerned about the environment? Would you like to optimize your packaging? With this article, learn the way to make your packaging more rational and sustainable. Above all, we all want online shopping to be fast and economical. And in addition, we demand that the products arrive at our home as soon as possible and in perfect condition. So our wishes as consumers are at first sight incompatible with the preservation of the environment and the rationalisation of order distribution processes. However, a concept was born that defends the satisfaction of the e-commerce customer without giving up sustainability: the optimisation of packaging.

So what is packaging optimisation?
Packaging optimisation is a process that seeks to use the appropriate packaging for each product according to its characteristics, its conservation needs and the route it will take until it is delivered to the end customer. To do this, it is based on three principles:

• Minimalism: the right packaging formats and filling will be used, in the right quantities and volumes, according to each type of order;
• Safety: always check that the products to be transported are well protected and will arrive at their destination in the best conditions;
• Sustainability: opt for recyclable and ecologically correct packaging solutions.

Why should you optimise your packaging?

The volumes of cardboard, plastic, among others, that are used to package products have been increasing in recent decades. According to data from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, in the United States alone, packaging and packaging waste generated each year increased by 185% between 1960 and 2015. No less than 27 to 78 million tonnes per year, of which, fortunately, about half is recycled.

In this sense, to put an end to this spiral of waste multiplication, which is extremely harmful to the environment, the obligation to take action is imposed. With packaging optimisation, it is possible to reduce packaging costs and minimise the impact that distribution activities have on the environment.

How to achieve packaging optimisation

Achieving packaging optimisation, in your e-commerce, involves implementing several actions that affect the entire chain of preparing your orders. These are therefore:

1. Reduce the use of non-recyclable packaging

For example, with regard to optimising packaging, it is best to dispense with completely or at least restrict the use of products that are not biodegradable or that cannot have a second life. Try to control your consumption when preparing your orders.

2. Give priority to recyclable packaging options

Currently, a large number of international brands share the same goal: to use only 100% recyclable packaging in the coming years. This is the case of Walmart or Mondelez, which has set itself this target by 2025.

Eliminate excess packaging

Excess packaging damages your brand image and makes them wasteful as well. To avoid this, you can make your operators’ jobs easier by coming up with versatile, time-saving packaging proposals. For example: consider variable height boxes.

4. Replace plastics with more sustainable alternatives

First of all, the EU has been taking measures to ban the marketing of disposable plastics. In short: plates, cups, straws, cutlery, among other objects. The aim is therefore to reduce plastic in the oceans, where this waste takes decades to decompose.

In this sense, the packaging sector also has great responsibility, as it consumes alone 40% of the plastics manufactured today. As a result, to reduce this dependence on plastic, at RAJA, we have a wide variety of ecologically responsible packaging.

Examples of packaging optimisation: Amazon Day for Prime users

In addition to intervening directly on packaging, packaging optimisation requires an e-commerce company to bundle products and deliver them to its customers in a single package. In this way, the consumption of cardboard boxes, adhesive tape or filling materials is greatly reduced.

To promote this practice, Amazon has implemented an exclusive service for Prime customers, the Amazon Day. This service, allows choosing a certain day of the week to receive all the orders that were placed on the platform in the previous days. In this way, the warehouse can pack several products together.

Start optimising your e-commerce packaging: your customers, the environment and your bottom line will thank you. Visit our website and discover our entire range.