We live in a globalized world, where consumption habits are constantly changing. It is a fact that during the Covid-19 pandemic, many consumers drastically changed the way they buy products, shifting from the traditional physical method to the virtual, or online, method. This change in the way consumers make purchases has required adaptations in the logistics department. Logistics operators, who before the pandemic were accustomed to making deliveries in large batches, have had to make increasingly fragmented deliveries to individually serve each consumer who shops online, in the mode known as e-commerce.
In this context, an important item comes into play: the packaging. Batch deliveries use a certain amount of packaging, but when the delivery is split, the number of packages multiplies exponentially. It is very common, when receiving a product purchased online, to notice the large amount of packaging, including cardboard boxes, bubble wrap plastics, and other materials. Distributors, to protect the products in the best possible way during the logistics process, often overdo it, especially for small-volume items. If you buy a small bottle of perfume, for example, it is likely that the packaging that arrived at your residence can hold a wine bottle.
This way of thinking about packaging for e-commerce deliveries is not a Brazilian "privilege." This has been happening all over the world. According to a BBC article from June 2024, Nicole Rycroft, CEO of the environmental organization Canopy, which works with companies to preserve threatened forests, said, "In the early days of e-commerce, products had seven times more packaging than purchases made in physical stores." "Now, it's about four and a half times more, but the excess of packaging is still significant."
According to Edrone, in 2024, e-commerce in Brazil surpassed 200 billion in revenue, with an average ticket of nearly R$ 500.00 and more than 90 million virtual buyers. Therefore, it continues to maintain the growth trend presented in previous years. These numbers further amplify the amount of packaging consumed and those that will still be, by maintaining the logic that the larger the packaging, the better the results.
Some relevant questions: if packaging has a share in the logistics cost, why waste the opportunity for reduction? Another question, with so much technology embedded in logistics processes, wouldn't one expect an optimization in the use of packaging?
Among the possible causes of excessive packaging, we can cite the difficulty of unitizing and transporting small objects. It is also worth noting that, despite the technology available, due to the demands for faster deliveries and difficulties in generating demand, the operation often has to "make do" with what is available and, of course, nothing beats a family-sized package!
E-commerce cannot be held responsible for all the waste generated from its packaging, however, it is up to companies in the sector to seek sustainable alternatives to solve this problem.
