Tag Archives: Amazon

Amazon delivery contained 45ft of packaging paper

Amazon criticised on social media for using up to 45ft of packaging paper to protect a wall calendar.

Amazon delivery contained 45ft of packaging paper

One customer posted images of the over-sized paper packaging; Annie Gelly purchased the £9 Collins A2 calendar online expecting it to arrive in a Jiffy bag or envelope and was shocked to see ‘such a waste’ of paper.

“The calendar arrived last Thursday and it has masses of paper in the box – there were nine lengths of screwed-up brown paper which measured about 45ft in total.

“Amazon always package stuff this way – I’ve had things like this in the past and they’re particularly prone to it – but this really took the biscuit. I think it’s bad for the environment and you would have thought Amazon of all people would be aware of that kind of thing and try to be more careful.”

In another order, the length of paper was 26ft long.

That unnamed customer said: “I know that the paper they use is recycled, but I can’t help but think Amazon are still chopping down the rainforest. It was so excessive – but on the plus side, I won’t need to buy any wrapping paper this Christmas.”

An Amazon spokesperson said: “We continue to pursue multi-year waste reduction initiatives – e-commerce ready packaging and Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging – to promote easy-to-open, 100 percent recyclable packaging and to ship products in their own packages without additional shipping boxes.

“These initiatives have grown to include more than 1.2 million products over time and have eliminated more than 36,000 tons of excess packaging just in 2015. If executed well, our innovations will also help us to reduce prep, packing material and shipping supplies and reduce our operational costs by increasing the use of recycled materials. They will also increase the overall density of the packages we ship – good for transportation savings and less waste for our customers – and reduce the things that get damaged in transit and eliminate wasted packaging.”

Packaging specialist joins DS Smith

Packaging specialist joins DS Smith.

Packaging specialist joins DS Smith

Packaging specialist joins DS Smith. DS Smith has turned to the former head of EU packaging at Amazon to head up its new e-commerce team.

Isabel Rocher has joined the corrugated and paper packaging giant as head of e-commerce. She was previously head of EU packaging and shipping supplies at Amazon.

Rocher has 15 years’ experience in packaging, sales and marketing. She has held roles at Neopack Solution (e3neo) and Savoye Pack. In her most recent role at Amazon, Rocher was responsible for the multi-million pound EU shipping supply budget, the development of packaging solutions and ensured a standardised approach to packaging types across Amazon’s EU network.

Rocher said: “E- commerce Packaging has traditionally been seen as a means to an end: to preserve, promote and protect a product. But its role is so much more important than that, especially in today’s omnichannel world with the explosion of e-commerce. Of course products must arrive in pristine condition, but supply chain efficiencies, sustainability and creating that ‘wow’ factor that customers have traditionally experienced in bricks and mortar stores is vitally important.

“To a certain extent, the packaging industry is still finding its feet in this area, and with DS Smith’s proud history of innovation, I’m looking forward to working with customers to better understand their needs and to communicate the very real value that packaging can bring to the e-commerce supply chain.”

Mark Shaw, market development director of DS Smith’s European packaging division, said: “We’ve made some significant investments in our packaging business in recent years to ensure that we stay at the forefront of our industry. We have a strong investment programme and are committed to introducing new technology that delivers value for our customers. The introduction of a dedicated European e-commerce team, that is able to draw insight from all of the countries in which DS Smith operates, is the next step to ensure that we continue to deliver sustainable propositions for our customers that support their e-com ambitions. Isabel brings a wealth of experience and I am delighted to welcome her to the team.”

Amazon customers criticise excessive packaging

Amazon is facing criticism on social media with stories of excessive packaging, during the festive period.

Amazon

Consumers vented their frustrations at what they saw as unnecessarily over-sized packaging for numerous items.

One Twitter user showed a huge cardboard box packaging a packet of small camera lens protector rings.

She tweeted: “What an incredibly wasteful way of packaging a tiny unbreakable item.”

Amazon did not avoid the topic, with a customer service advisor tweeting back: “I’ll be happy to pass this picture along to our Shipping Department for you.”

One customer sent an image of a small packet wrapped up in brown paper and an over sized cardboard box, while another posted a picture of a keyboard in a pack that appeared considerably larger than required.

Another picture showed a toy the size of a long pencil sent in a far longer cardboard box – which certainly appeared excessive.

This excessive packaging goes against the pledge Amazon made in 2008 when it promised to slash the amount of packaging it used.

At A&A Packaging we have seen similar cases when the staff have ordered products from amazon.
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