Currently, the life cycle of most e-commerce shipping packaging is best described by the one-way, cradle-to-grave stream of materials – a model that takes, makes, and wastes. Click here to see an illustration depicting the typical life cycle for an e-commerce package made from corrugated paperboard and plastic.

Corrugate, plastic, and various types of void fill are the materials most commonly used for e-commerce shipping packaging and for the larger parcel shipping industry. Together, corrugate and plastic represent roughly 25% of all packaging discarded in 2000. (MSW in U.S. 2000: Facts and Figures). By weight, corrugated paperboard is the most significant component of the 45 million tons of discarded containers and packaging that ended up in landfills in 2000 (MSW in U.S. 2000: Facts and Figures). While corrugated paperboard enjoys a high recovery rate for recycling, its recovery rate in the residential sector (where most e-commerce shipping packaging ends its useful ‘life’) is significantly lower than in the commercial/industrial sector. The lack of infrastructure for systematic corrugated paperboard and packaging recovery in combination with the distributed nature of residential delivery of e-commerce packages and existing consumer behavior suggests that these materials will become an increasing burden within municipal waste streams.

E-commerce presents an ideal opportunity for system-wide implementation of innovative packaging solutions due to its dependence on highly integrated technology for product distribution and returns.