Quarterly report 3

Plastic or paper packaging in e-commerce?

A lot of e-commerce packaging is cardboard. But there is an alternative that is preferred by more and more e-commerce companies: film.

Flexible film has a many plus points. It is lighter, more efficient, faster and cheaper. When used with flexible bag length, another multiplier can be added to the above. Are there no minus points? Yes, there are. The gigantic islands of plastic floating in our oceans have major consequences for flora and fauna, and microplastics threaten our health.

The proportion of biodegradable and organic plastics is increasing but is too small. So, I must admit that the negative impact of plastics in ecological systems is still substantial.

In general, we can conclude that when plastic is not biodegradable and is not recycled, paper is less harmful to the environment. The better image of paper is the logical reason why some larger e-commerce parties will not switch over yet. But is that justified?

The production of cardboard and paper requires a lot of raw materials and energy. The paper industry is one of the largest contributors of greenhouse gas. But the main argument is that paper is not circular. Paper can be recycled several times, but then the fibres become too short to be reused as a raw material. So, a fully circular model for paper is difficult to achieve. In addition, we can all see that the use of paper for packing and shipping is not most efficient. We all get products that we ordered online in boxes

that are way too big. Simply too much raw material is used for the transport of mostly air. I found this an interesting article. It looks at the aspects of usability and transportation.

Plastics can be infinitely circular, and with proper recycling the use of plastics is better. How can we manage proper recycling together? In my opinion, it makes sense to reduce the number of types to a manageable number. Standardization of a limited number of film types will make the circular model easier to implement. We must look at packaging as a stand-alone product, with its own product identification. We can do that if we realize that packaging is a valuable raw material. When we take this step I am very positive about the circular future.

On our route to a circular economy, plastic is still the long-term solution. Steps are taken towards a smaller footprint in production. Plastics are made from recycled or renewable plastics of guaranteed quality. Meanwhile, there are now infinitely recyclable bioplastics. So, developments are speeding up.