Let the air out: Appeal
Unbelievable: The worldwatchers technical boss Andreas recently ordered 4 plastic clips in the size 15mm x 13mm, which would have fit into a matchbox without much effort. He tells us that he received them in a box that could have held 25,000 of these clips with a volume of 21 liters. So it was simply 6,250 x too big!
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. We all know this - we order something online, the product arrives 1-2 days later - and with it mountains of outer packaging, packaging and often far too large boxes.
This is not only absurd economically, but also ecologically. That's why Andreas took the time to calculate the CO2 waste. The result: by investing in smarter packaging, the online mail order business could save over 150,000 tons of CO2 per year. But where does this waste come from?
More than 30% of all shipments from online retailers are more air than content.
This air, or the space not used by transported waiting, not only costs a lot of money, but also causes a lot of CO2! Why is that so? - Quite simply: logistics generates proportionately more CO2 per product with a low useful weight or low space utilization.
As in the case with the plastic clips: by sending them in a shipping bag instead of a large cardboard box, the online shipping company could have saved 74% CO2.
Sure, for online retailers it's all about efficiency and fast shipping, worrying about packing products costs time and money. So rather standard sizes and fewer handles. But that's thinking too short. The online retailer also has to pay for, procure and store packaging. The cost savings here could be invested at the packaging line for smart packing stations.
Conclusion: Through intelligent packaging, online retail could save more than 15% of CO2 emissions.
