Rome, November 19 (Adnkronos) – “When we make online purchases, most of the goods that arrive at our home, packed and packaged well, are air. Oversized packaging, unused volume and inefficient packaging contribute to the phenomenon of overpackaging, which has a series of important consequences.” That is Paolo Marini, Managing Director, South East Emea DS Smith, an International Paper Company.
In fact, “oversized packaging not only causes more waste to be thrown away. Every cubic centimeter of empty space transported means less efficient containers, more trips, and therefore more fuel consumed. The result is a significant increase in CO2 emissions, as well as additional costs throughout the supply chain.”
“In 2018, a study carried out by DS Smith and Forbes Insights – he explained – has highlighted this problem at an international level. The data collected shows that, on average, packages sent by e-commerce operators are empty in the amount of 45% of their volume and many retailers admit to sending packages even twice as large as they contain in a medium-sized country. From an economic point of view, global losses due to waste are around 46 billion euros per year. Meanwhile, from 2018 to By 2025, online commerce will more than double, from around 87 billion packages sent annually to around 200 billion packages.
Hence the search for new solutions. “At DS Smith we have embraced the vision of a circular economy, developing innovative tools such as Circular Design Metrics that help us objectively evaluate how efficient and sustainable a package is throughout its life cycle. Thanks to Circular Design Metrics, we can analyze and improve several key aspects of packaging,” continued Marini.
First of all, “we reduce the use of natural resources, by choosing materials that are recyclable and easy to recycle, to reduce the environmental impact associated with the extraction and production of raw materials. Second, we minimize waste, designing packaging that uses only the amount of materials actually necessary and can be easily reused or recycled. In addition, we aim to optimize logistics and production costs, choosing solutions that allow us to transport more products with less space used and fewer journeys”.
A concrete example of DS Smith’s philosophy is represented by “Fanfold, an innovative and flexible packaging solution that allows the creation of tailor-made packaging for every need. Fanfold consists of a continuous sheet of cardboard that can be cut and folded quickly, adapting perfectly to the dimensions of the product to be shipped. This allows us to eliminate empty space in the packaging, avoid excessive use of fillers and drastically reduce the volume and weight of the packaging”.
