Sustainability is no longer a buzzword for businesses; it’s a top priority driving daily decisions and long-term strategies. Customers and executives demand environmentally responsible practices, and businesses face mounting pressure to meet these demands while keeping costs in check. Fortunately, eco-friendly updates don’t have to hurt your bottom line. When it comes to parcel shipping, right-sizing order packaging can create a greener supply chain that saves money too.

The Problem: Shipping Air is Harmful and Expensive

Consumers are receiving more packages than ever, with the average person receiving 64 deliveries each year. And here’s the kicker: They are shipped half full. And in some categories like home goods, packages contain 64% air.

Oversized boxes not only waste materials but also require more trucks to transport the same volume of goods, driving up fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions.

The transportation sector is one of the greatest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, accounting for 28 percent of total emissions in 2022, much of which falls under Scope-3. And for businesses striving to meet sustainability goals, focusing on increasing capacity is crucial to helping reduce these emissions.

And it’s not just the planet paying the price. Shippers are footing the bill too. Carriers like UPS and FedEx use dimensional weight pricing to account for the space a parcel takes up on delivery trucks, penalizing businesses for poor volume utilization. Add to this rising General Rate Increases (GRIs) and surcharges, and you have enough to put profitability at risk. Fortunately, by optimizing your packaging, you can ease the burden of rising costs while reducing your environmental impact.

Right-Sizing Your Packaging

Right-sizing your packaging means selecting boxes that fit your products perfectly, minimizing wasted space. This straightforward yet impactful change benefits both your budget and the planet. By eliminating excess space in packages, you reduce the number of trucks needed to transport goods, lowering fuel consumption and emissions. Additionally, using less corrugated material cuts resource consumption and waste, further supporting sustainability efforts.

Financially, right-sizing packaging helps businesses cut costs by minimizing material usage and improving shipping efficiency. With less corrugated material being used, there’s less room for product damage, eliminating the need for fillers like packing paper or air pillows.

On top of that, right-sizing ensures dimensional weight (DIM) charges are reflective of a more accurate overall weight rather than the box itself, saving money on shipping costs and avoiding carrier surcharges.

How to Start Right Sizing

Optimize Packaging Materials

Right-sizing is not just about finding the perfect box size; it is also about selecting the right materials for the products being shipped. Corrugated boxes are a popular choice because they’re recyclable, but they’re not always the best option for every shipment. As corrugated material costs continue to rise, with increases like $80 per ton for corrugated medium expected, diversifying your packaging lineup can help maintain sustainability without compromising your budget.

For smaller or flat items, compostable mailers can be a more efficient choice. Mailers use less material than boxes, are lighter, and help reduce overall shipment volume, which lowers costs tied to DIM weight charges. Having a strategic mix of cartons and mailers creates a balance between cost reduction and minimizing environmental impact.

Leverage On-Demand Packaging

On-demand packaging machines simplify the packing process, eliminating the need to choose the correct box. By replacing pre-made boxes with custom-sized ones tailored to each product or order, these machines help businesses drastically reduce waste including excess corrugate and filler materials.

Use Advanced Cartonization Technology

Cartonization is the process of identifying the best way to pack an order. Today’s modern cartonization solutions use complex algorithms to determine the most efficient packing scenario for every shipment based on your specific business requirements. Parcel packing intelligence platforms, like Paccurate, enable businesses to reduce their average box sizes by up to 14% and lower shipping costs by as much as 22% by optimizing every pack for cost. Combining cartonization with a multi-carrier shipping software further enhances these benefits, helping businesses achieve even greater savings through streamlined packing and carrier selection.

Conclusion

Making eco-friendly changes to your packaging is a straightforward way to reduce your carbon footprint while cutting costs, and taking the first step is simpler than you might think. By evaluating your current processes and leveraging technology to increase volume utilization in each package, you can drive measurable improvements for both the environment and your business.

About the Author:

James Malley is the CEO of Paccurate, a software company with a mission to remove wasted space from the supply chain. A veteran of the logistics industry since 2009, James has a proven track record of developing innovative shipping technologies, including an award-winning multi-carrier Transportation Management System (TMS). Paccurate is creating a new category in the fulfillment space: Parcel Packing Intelligence, which is transforming the way retailers and 3PLs approach sustainability, and control costs. Let me know if you have any questions.