Report shows consumers have increased recycling, frustrated by excessive packaging

Global packaging producer DS Smith, with North American operations headquartered in Atlanta, has released a consumer survey that suggests online shoppers are dissatisfied with packages too big for the products being shipped, too flimsy, covered with too much tape or not being waterproof or recyclable.

DS Smith tracked frustrations amid a jump in e-commerce over the past two years that is continuing into the holiday season. The poll was conducted in October with Toronto-based research firm Torfac and had 1,000 respondents.

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Results show sustainability is a priority for 81 percent of consumers—so much so that about 40 percent say they would pay more for sustainable packaging. A third of respondents say they would pay up to 24 percent more for sustainable packaging and another third would pay at least 25 percent or more.

DS Smith says the results underscore efforts to provide environmentally friendly products that replace problem plastics, remove carbon from supply chains and provide innovative recycling solutions.

“Online shopping remains popular, so the onus is on business to design out waste and make sure materials can stay in use for as long as possible,” says Melanie Galloway, vice president of sales, marketing and innovation for DS Smith North America.

The survey also showed widespread consumer support for recycling.

More than 40 percent of respondents say they have increased their recycling since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, and nearly 70 percent say they recycle cardboard packaging from online deliveries always or most of the time.

DS Smith says that embrace of recycling matches the spike in e-commerce, with two-thirds of respondents saying their frequency of online shopping has increased and more than half saying they expect their online shopping habits to continue to grow.

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But the increase in online shopping brings an increase in packaging arriving at consumers’ doorsteps, and respondents expressed frustrations with boxes with too much extra space, with 38 percent saying half their deliveries were filled with air and 39 percent saying deliveries were filled with a quarter of air.

Other packaging issues cited include:

• too big for the products being shipped (41 percent);
• uses too much filler (29 percent);
• not waterproof (27 percent);
• is flimsy and easily damaged (25 percent);
• uses too much plastic tape (24 percent);
• difficult to open (21 percent); and
• not recyclable (12 percent).

Two-thirds of consumers surveyed say they would be more likely to purchase products either packaged in or using paper and cardboard so it can be reused or recycled.

DS Smith says oversized boxes containing excess packing material take up more space during transit, creating a potential ripple effect of unnecessary delivery trips which can impact the amount of carbon emissions being produced.

“The idea of oversized boxes containing excess packing material that, in turn, overly fill delivery trucks is not something any of us should perpetuate,” Galloway says. “Consumers don’t want it, businesses can’t afford it and, ultimately, the planet won’t thank us for it.”