The Hidden Costs of Oversized Packages, and How Companies Are Fixing It

In warehouses across the globe, a quiet transformation is reshaping how goods reachdoorsteps. Increasing environmental concerns are prompting businesses to reconsider theirpackaging practices. Companies now aim to reduce waste, minimize plastic use, and lower theiroverall carbon footprint, while also gaining efficiency and improving the customer experience. Atthe heart of this shift is a move away from the familiar oversized boxes and excessive fillerstowards precisely sized, on-demand packaging solutions.

The traditional approach, stocking warehouses with large quantities of pre-sized boxes, hasoften led to inefficiencies. Consumers frequently receive packages filled with unnecessarypadding materials, contributing to both waste and increased transportation costs. This practicehas significant environmental repercussions, creating excess cardboard waste, plastic pollution,and higher carbon emissions from inefficiently loaded delivery trucks.

Packsize, a Utah-based company specializing in automated corrugated packaging, hasemerged as a notable player addressing these environmental and logistical issues. Theirmethod involves placing specialized equipment directly within warehouses, enabling boxes tobe produced instantly, tailored precisely to each shipment's contents. This “right-sized”packaging approach helps reduce cardboard consumption, eliminates unnecessary filler, andoptimizes transportation space.

“When you reduce box size, you can pack more boxes onto each truck”, explained Brian Reinhart, Chief Revenue Officer at Packsize. “Companies can reduce freight costs by up to as 10 to 15 percent.”

The cumulative environmental benefits are notable. According to the company, Packsize’s technology has produced billions of tailored boxes, saving an estimated 1.2 billion pounds of CO2 emissions. Beyond cardboard reduction, this practice can help diminishes reliance on plastic packaging such as polybags, bubble wrap, air pillows, and foam fillers commonly used to protect shipped goods. Smaller, customized boxes make cardboard a practical and cost-effective alternative to polybags, the inexpensive plastic pouches typically used for smalleritems like apparel.

“Right-sized packaging makes corrugated boxes economically competitive with polybags”, Reinhart noted, “allowing businesses to help decrease plastic use, typically without cost increases.”

Packsize’s technology integrates into warehouse operations through two main methodologies:“box first” and “box last.” The “box first” method pre-builds boxes based on precise order data,while the “box last” method wraps boxes around products after they are picked, using advanced3D scanning technology. Major retailers have successfully adopted Packsize’s technology,including Walmart’s innovative NextGen fulfillment centers, demonstrating both operationalefficiency and environmental benefits.

However, transitioning to new packaging technologies can pose integration challenges,particularly with the variety of older warehouse management systems currently in use.Companies like Packsize use adaptable software solutions designed to ease this transition,enabling more efficient integration without extensive system overhauls.

As regulatory pressures and public awareness around environmental sustainabilityGrow, particularly in regions such as Europe, where regulations like the EU’s Packaging andPackaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) mandate significant reductions in packagingwaste, businesses are finding economic and ecological incentives increasingly aligned.

“This is a unique instance where doing the environmentally responsible thing also makes soundeconomic sense”, said Reinhart. “Companies no longer need to choose between sustainabilityand profitability.”

This alignment of economic benefits with environmental responsibility helps explain theadoption of Packsize’s technologies. With thousands of systems deployed globally,the days of oversized boxes stuffed with unnecessary padding may soon become a distantmemory.

“In the past, success was measured purely by speed of delivery”, Reinhart concluded. “Now,consumers expect speed combined with sustainability and quality. Our goal is to deliver exactlythat: efficiently, responsibly, and sustainably.”