Life cycle assessment of returnable mailers used for apparel electronic commerce: A case study in Canada

Abstract

E‐commerce is increasingly popular in the fashion industry in Canada. Based on a case study, this research analysed the environmental sustainability of the returnable e‐commerce package format distributed in Canadian apparel retail channels. The case study compared the environmental impacts of a returnable polypropylene mailer to those of two different expendable packaging formats currently used by a brand owner, such as a corrugated paperboard package and a low‐density polypropylene mailer. A life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted to examine the environmental impacts of the three packaging scenarios. The foreground data of the LCA were obtained from a brand owner and packaging suppliers in 2021. TRACI 2.1, including 10 life cycle impact categories, was used for the LCA. The comparative LCA results showed that the returnable mailer generated the lowest environmental impact for eight out of 10 impact categories when the final consumers' locations were relatively close to the brand owner or returnable packaging service provider. The expendable corrugated paperboard packaging format contributed the greatest environmental burden in all the impact categories primarily because it used a large amount of material and was relatively heavy. However, the comparative results were changed for some impact indicators depending on the final consumer's location and the number of reuse cycles for the returnable mailer. Specifically, the returnable mailer had a higher environmental impact than the expendable mailer for half of the 10 impact categories when the number of reuses for the returnable mailer was decreased to 10 cycles.

Recycled or reusable: A multi‐method assessment of eco‐friendly packaging in online retail

“…However, our LCA results reveal that paper and especially bioplastic packaging in online retail do not generally have a lower environmental impact than plastic. This finding is consistent with previous LCA results on packaging (Otto et al, 2021;Park & Waqar, 2022) and also aligns with previous studies showing that decision heuristics are not always based on rational arguments but are also susceptible to misconceptions (Herbes et al, 2018;Otto et al, 2021;Steenis et al, 2017).…”

“…Few studies in the context of online retail analyze the impact of packaging from an environmental perspective. These studies either focus on the differences between in‐store and online shopping (Hischier, 2018; van Loon et al., 2015) or compare reusable and single‐use packaging options (Park & Waqar, 2022; Zimmermann & Bliklen, 2020). Further studies investigate consumer motives or preferences regarding the use of eco‐friendly packaging in online retail (Koch et al., 2022; Lu et al., 2020).…”

The Fear of the Known and Unknown in Being the Sustainable Business: Environmental Concern Reflected by Axfood (Sweden)

“…Stress was on waste in production and to make better use of recyclable scraps. This means there needs to be a system for reducing the amount of waste produced and then recycling it [45][46][47][48][49]. Several researchers have recently raised concerns on greening the packaging, as it affects other value chain connections of the supply chain, energy consumption, and other crucial elements of business operations [45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54].…”

Assessing Reusable Packaging: The Importance of Methodological Choices in Carbon Footprint Calculation

“…In addition to the analyses of the fundamental potential of reusable packaging that demonstrate the environmental benefits of using reusable packaging in lieu of disposable packaging, environmental assessments (particularly carbon footprint studies) of shipping packaging are also carried out for the purpose of comparing packaging with each other and communicating environmental product information. Comparative assessments of reusable (and disposable) shipping packaging have been carried out frequently in recent times (see, e.g., [9,[11][12][13][14][15]).…”