MHI Solutions Improving Supply Chain Performance
ISTOCK.COM/AKINTEVS
By now, just about everyone who shops online has experienced overpackaging. You order a few small items and receive an oversized box packed with void fill. Sure, you enjoy getting fast delivery of the products you need, but it’s hard not to bristle at the wastefulness, especially when you consider the enormous scale of leading e‑commerce operations.
For years, overpackaging has drawn the ire of consumers, who post photos on social media showing excessive packaging and complain of waste. Now, however, the pressure to right‑size shipping boxes isn’t just coming from environmentally conscious consumers—it’s coming from state legislators.
In June, the New Jersey Senate passed a bill limiting the size of shipping boxes for many retailers. The legislation likely will pass the General Assembly later this year and move to the desk of Gov. Phil Murphy, who can be expected to sign it. In 2022, Murphy signed a law banning polystyrene packing peanuts and requiring minimum levels of recycled content in packaging materials.
The latest bill would prohibit large online retailers and major retailers in New Jersey from using a shipping box to ship a product to a consumer that is greater than two times the volume of the product being shipped.
The legislation defines a large online retailer as a business that sells goods online, sends goods by mail or parcel delivery and has annual gross sales in the state of $1 million or more. The bill defines a major retailer as a retail establishment that occupies at least 75,000 square feet and has 50 or more employees.
For high‑volume sellers, costly penalties could add up quickly. Retailers that violate the law would face civil penalties of $250 to $500 for each offense. In the case of a continuing violation, each day during which the violation continues would constitute an additional offense.
Moreover, the bill authorizes state, county and municipal administrators to institute a summary civil action for a civil penalty or injunctive relief to enforce the bill’s provisions or prevent a violation.
Significantly, most consumer electronics are exempt from the bill, and it clarifies that shipping boxes still must conform to any minimum‑size requirements established by the U.S. Postal Service or a private shipping company.
New Jersey isn’t alone in tackling this issue. In May, Minnesota became the fifth state to establish an extended producer responsibility (EPR) program, which makes producers of packaging products responsible for some of the costs of recycling those materials.
Under Minnesota’s law, all packaging used by shippers in the state must be reusable, recyclable, compostable or collected by an approved alternative collection system by 2032. Similar bills have passed in Oregon, Colorado, California and Maine and 10 additional states had bills introduced this year in their state capitals.
Right‑sizing boxes isn’t just about reducing packaging waste; it’s about using less fuel for parcel delivery, according to Rick Becerra, vice president of sortation and strategy for MHI member BlueCrest, which provides warehouse automation solutions. With less wasted space in boxes, more product can fit inside trucks and delivery vans, so fewer trips are required and greenhouse‑gas emissions are reduced, he said.
“There’s been a lot of discussion regarding the inefficiency of logistics practices as businesses and consumers increasingly prioritize sustainability,” Becerra said. “This inefficiency extends beyond packaging materials to encompass the excessive use of space.”
But complying with right‑sizing laws won’t be easy. To optimize throughput, many e‑commerce retailers limit the variety of boxes at packing stations so that workers don’t spend considerable time sizing up orders. That’s a vital consideration given that consumers expect ever‑faster delivery of their orders, Becerra said.
Indeed, in opposing the bill, the New Jersey Business & Industry Association predicted that the legislation would jeopardize next‑day delivery service.