E-commerce has been growing steadily in recent years and has become firmly established as a regular consumption option for a significant part of the population.
E-commerce offers a series of advantages to consumers, especially in terms of convenience, saving time and travel, and making any type of product available to populations with less physical retail outlets or to people with mobility problems or other dependencies. Even so, this type of commerce has also a series of associated disadvantages, many of them related to the environmental impact due to the transport and packaging used for the delivery of the products.
Evolution of the generation of parcel waste and the number of e-commerce transactions of material goods in Catalonia
Source:Rezero and data from the Comisión Nacional de Mercados y la Competencia
The business sector and public administrations need to take effective measures to address the growth of disposable packaging in e-commerce, regardless of the material from which it is made.
The solution to reduce the impact generated by packaging involves rethinking and redesigning e-commerce packaging and product packaging and distribution processes, reducing the use of the materials used, promoting their circularity and eliminating the use of substances harmful to the environment and human health.