i3 - January/February 2017 - 51

By Elliot Grimm

Policy

G R E E N P O L I CY

Tech Industry Reduces The Impact
Of Packaging

 C

YAGI STUDIO/GETTY IMAGES
CREDIT

onsumers' gravitation to online shopping - buying everything from
tech devices and house supplies to food for home delivery - shows no
signs of slowing down. This year, UPS expects to deliver more than
700 million packages globally in the days between Thanksgiving and
New Year's Eve. While this upsurge of online delivery means each year more

materials are needed to ship consumers'
orders, tech retailers and manufacturers
are taking important steps to optimize
packaging to reduce its environmental
impact and minimize damage.
Walmart launched its Sustainable
Packaging Playbook initiative in October
2016, focusing on three key areas for its
in-store retail operations-packaging
optimization, increased recycling and
sustainable sourcing. The plan encourages
suppliers to use the How2Recycle label
from the Sustainable Packaging Coalition
(SPC) to inform consumers how to recycle
their product packaging. Walmart's push
into smarter packaging was prompted
by some surprising data: two-thirds of
consumers don't recycle empty packages
unless there are printed instructions.
Manufacturers and retailers are making
strides to use eco-friendly packaging as a way
to minimize waste, while also cutting costs
for the industry and consumers. Many are
investing in more sustainable design, innovating ways to reduce the size and weight
of their packaging while also increasing the
amount of renewable content.
Amazon, the world's largest online
retailer, ships most of its orders in
corrugated containers that, on average,
include 43 percent recovered fiber
content. In the retailer's U.S. fulfillment
centers, which primarily ship larger
products like televisions, Amazon has
introduced some packaging materials that
are 100 percent recyclable and made of 50
percent recycled material.
And Best Buy last July joined the "I
Want To Be Recycled" campaign, an
C TA . t e c h / i 3

initiative by Keep America Beautiful and
the Ad Council to remind consumers to
recycle shipping and product packaging.
As part of the initiative, all orders shipped
from BestBuy.com include customized
packaging design that drives consumers
to learn where, what and how to properly
recycle at IWantToBeRecycled.org.

Manufacturers Help Too
Alongside the efforts of these retailers,
manufacturers are also helping advance
more sustainable packaging designs. In
2008, Dell launched its 3Cs program -
Cube, Content and Curbside - to increase
packaging recyclability. Eight years later,
the program has upped its goal to eventually make 100 percent of Dell packages
from sustainable materials, and by
2020 have them entirely recyclable or
compostable. By the beginning of 2016,
nearly 72 percent of Dell shipments were
packaged in entirely sustainable materials and were recyclable or compostable.
HP implemented initiatives to use
less material in packaging and optimize
shipping densities for its products in
2012. In less than four years, one
of their efforts to reuse wooden
pallets has alone saved more than
23 million feet of lumber. And
Microsoft has made its mobile
packaging more than 95 percent
fiber-based, out of which more
than 78 percent comes from
recycled materials. Even
more remarkable, all Microsoft
mobile packaging is 100
percent recyclable.

Earlier this year, CTA joined
The Recycling Partnership, an organization dedicated to increase recycling
through support of community programs
across the country. CTA's sponsorship
aims to improve the nation's curbside
recycling efforts and help maximize the
benefits of the industry's sustainable
packaging initiatives.
These companies and others are
bringing about a new era of sustainability
in the consumer tech industry. On top of
innovating lighter, thinner, more sustainable and energy-efficient products,
the industry's efforts toward smarter
packaging are helping ensure consumers
can enjoy their favorite tech devices and
support a healthier future. ■

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

51
http://www.BestBuy.com http://imagestore.s4rb-systems.co.uk/images/rightnow/walmartsustainability.custhelp.com/for_answers/PackagingPlaybook.pdf http://imagestore.s4rb-systems.co.uk/images/rightnow/walmartsustainability.custhelp.com/for_answers/PackagingPlaybook.pdf http://www.IWantToBeRecycled.org http://cta.tech/i3
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