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How to reduce your in-pack waste

Limiting your packaging waste is a big concern for a lot of businesses – and consumers too. Our group’s latest unboxing research showed that almost a quarter of consumers believe their deliveries arrive with too much packaging .

So, how can you reduce the waste created by your in-pack packaging?

We’ve spoken to our team of experts and they’ve recommended a few tips to help you reduce your in-pack waste…

  1. Remove any unnecessary or excess paperwork

Surplus paperwork could be increasing your in-pack waste. You could make information available to your customers by email or online.

Alternatively, if your product comes with instructions of some kind, you could print them on the outer packaging, to condense use of paper inside your parcels.

  1. Use automated packaging solutions where possible

If your operation allows, using automated packing solutions will give you greater control over things like in-pack filling. In turn, this will reduce your waste.

An example of automation that can help reduce in-pack waste is Ranpak’s AccuFill system. It measures the right amount of paper to in fill to dispense, dependant on the size of your cartons and their contents.

  1. Create packaging guidelines for your team

Automation not an option for you? If you need to rely on manual methods of packing, creating packing guidelines for your team will help curb excess use of packaging.

Subsequently, this should help you minimise your in-pack waste, as the guidelines will create standardised usage patterns. However, you will still find some variance across your parcels, due to the “human factor”.

  1. Optimise cartons for your products so less cubic space is wasted

Making sure your boxes are optimised for your products will minimise your opportunities to create in-pack waste.

For example, if your goods fit your boxes well and use up most of the cubic space in the carton, you won’t have a large void to fill. This will eliminate the need for excess in-fill and consequent waste.

Further advice…

If you’d like to chat to one of our packaging experts, email contact@networkpack.co.uk or complete our contact form to book an appointment.