The explosive growth of online shopping has created an enormous amount of packaging waste that ends up in landfills. As consumers become more environmentally conscious, they are demanding brands reduce excess materials from deliveries. Fulfillment centers handling e-commerce orders offer opportunities to cut waste through strategic design and processes.
Why Reduce Packaging Waste?
There are compelling business and brand reasons for e-tailers to minimize packaging waste generated from warehouses:
Cost Savings - Excess or inefficient packaging drives up material, storage and disposal expenses significantly for high-volume operations. Waste audits reveal where to optimize.
Customer Expectations - Shoppers caring about sustainability seek out brands committed to responsible production and logistics. Less packaging waste strengthens eco-credentials.
Regulation - Stricter packaging legislation is being introduced worldwide. Proactive compliance minimizes potential compliance problems and fees down the road.
Talent Attraction - Younger employees increasingly prioritize working for environmentally-conscious companies. Waste reduction improves employer branding and retention.
Supply Chain Resilience - Circular solutions reduce dependency on virgin materials vulnerable to supply chain disruptions and price fluctuations.
How to Reduce Packaging Waste
Here are actionable strategies fulfillment centers can deploy to eliminate unnecessary materials from e-commerce shipments:
Optimize Box Sizing
Analyze products, review order patterns and right-size boxes to the bare minimum dimensions needed. Oversized containers waste space and materials.
Eliminate Excess Fillers
Remove extra stuffing like air pillows, paper cushions or plastic voids where risk of damage is low based on item evaluations.
Multi-pack Fragiles
For breakables, try layer cushioning to stack multiple lightweight items rather than boxing each one separately.
Standardize Box Templates
Consistent dimension boxes and slotted side/bottom designs maximize space, utilization rates and compatibility with line operations.
Skip Mailers for Cubes
Unless needed for branding, mailers inside boxes add an extra unnecessary material layer - only use for polybags, pouches, etc.
Automate Filling Lines
Robotics packing optimized cartons based on orders guarantee consistency and minimize inputs/rework vs manual filling.
Optimize Pallet Configurations
Maximize stacks with predictive algorithms that leave no unused space on pallets within safe weight limits.
Phase Out Inefficiencies
Conduct waste audits to identify items like loose filler bags, unused roll stock, damaged boxes suitable for reuse to eliminate from operations.
Explore Alternative Materials
Test less wasteful paper-based or compostable cushioning aids, machine-separable tape/labels, and fully recyclable composite designs.
Collaborate Across Functions
Engage procurement, product teams, engineers and logistics carriers in sustainability working groups driving continual progress company-wide.
Measure & Report Impact
Quantify waste diversion metrics like pounds of materials prevented from landfilling to motivate teams and showcase leadership
Reduce Excess Inventory
Forecasting, replenishment and production planning optimization eliminates overstocks and unnecessary protective packaging storage.
Establish Best Practices
Document initiatives and share learnings across all fulfillment centers to scale impact enterprise-wide as standard operating procedures.
With properly engineered reverse logistics, reusable tote programs, mailers, digital packaging mockups and other innovations also on the horizon, fulfillment centers that invest now in packaging optimization lay the foundations for even greater waste-reductions in the future. Stewarding resources benefits the bottom line as well as branding - a win-win to deliver happiness with less excess.
