Rising e-commerce packaging costs, along with the European Union’s new Packaging & Packaging Waste Regulations (P&PWR), are introducing new challenges that UK businesses need to understand and address. Jo Bradley, Business Development Manager at Sparck Technologies, explains how these changes are impacting packaging decisions.
Companies can often seem divided over packaging and its costs. While product packaging is carefully scrutinized, caught between buyers’ goals to minimize costs and marketers’ desires for greater visual impact, transport packaging receives less attention. Cardboard boxes and void fill are widely seen as minor parts of a much larger distribution overhead, and not always considered worth scrutinizing. However, a combination of price trends and packaging waste regulations is altering this view, particularly for e-commerce businesses where “package appeal” is increasingly significant.
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The Price Impact of Online Retail Trends
Since the pandemic-driven online retail boom, packaging manufacturers have reduced capacity in response to decreased demand. However, as volumes rise again, driven by smaller item shipments, packaging supply is tightening, which could lead to price increases. The industry’s shift toward smaller consignments of single items means a higher proportion of packaging material is required per product, which also drives up costs.
New Packaging Waste Regulations in the EU
Retail distributors face another serious challenge in the form of the EU’s new Packaging & Packaging Waste Regulations (P&PWR), approved by the European Parliament and expected to take effect in early 2025. With an 18-month implementation period, these waste regulations apply not only to EU countries but also to UK businesses selling in the EU.
P&PWR is a comprehensive update to current regulations, aimed at reducing packaging waste, which, despite existing efforts, is trending upward. A major focus is to reduce or eliminate plastics, particularly those used in void fill and “forever plastics.” But even cardboard boxes won’t escape scrutiny. The regulations will mandate that the weight and volume of packaging must be minimised for functionality, and by 2030, void space should be no more than 50% of the total package size. This will impact all grouped, transport, and e-commerce packaging operations.
Challenges of Manual and Standard-Sized Packaging
For businesses shipping a variety of package shapes and sizes, these requirements could be problematic. On manual packing lines, operators often select oversized boxes, a habit that could result in non-compliant consignments. Manually building “right-sized” boxes for each shipment is unrealistic in terms of time and labour costs. Meanwhile, standard-sized box options on semi-automated packing lines still pose the challenge of excess void space.
Addressing Oversized Packaging: Automation as a Solution
One common solution is to use 1D automated packaging, which only adjusts the height of a box, but this approach may fall short for rapidly growing e-commerce businesses with diverse product portfolios. More advanced automated packaging systems offer a more effective answer.
Sparck Technologies’ CVP Impack and CVP Everest systems use automated 3D solutions to fabricate right-sized boxes at high speed for each e-commerce order. These systems scan each item’s dimensions to calculate the ideal box size, then automatically cut, crease, erect, seal, checkweigh, and label it. This “right-sizing” approach can reduce cardboard use by over 30% and eliminate the need for void fill, including plastics. Sparck’s systems, with throughput rates reaching 1,100 orders per hour, also boost productivity by replacing up to 20 manual packing stations with one or two operators.
Navigating Compliance with EU Packaging Waste Regulations
Though it’s still unclear how non-compliance with the EU’s packaging waste regulations will be penalized, the positive news is that, as a regulation rather than a directive, P&PWR will apply consistently across all EU countries, reducing the risk of country-specific requirements. It appears that online marketplaces will bear responsibility for compliance, likely seeking vendor self-certification. Sparck’s automated systems collect and store data on package dimensions and contents, creating an evidential basis for self-certification.
The 2030 compliance deadline may seem far off, but with the current landscape of rising packaging costs and new packaging waste regulations, it’s essential for businesses to act now. Early adoption of automated packing solutions like those from Sparck Technologies can help companies keep pace with packaging requirements while achieving greater productivity and cost-efficiency.
