Can you sum up briefly what are your occupation and DS SMITH activities?

DS Smith is a global company and a leader in providing sustainable packaging solutions, most of which are based on cellulose. DS Smith has a turnover of about €7.3 billion and nearly 300 production sites. The company is listed on the London stock exchange and focuses on 3 segments: recycling, paper and packaging.

DS SMITH has taken part to the CNE PACK FOCUS morning conference on e-commerce packaging:

1. What are the key takeaways of your study called Empty Space Economy?

Empty space accounts for 25% of global flows of goods. This amounts to 61 million of TEU containers sailing empty, 122 million tonnes of carbon dioxide and $46 billion losses.

Empty space also accounts for 43% of e-commerce flows. Not only does it have an impact on costs – which is valued at €20 billion – but also on the carbon footprint and the customer experience.

The problem is that not all decision makers are aware of these figures, and few measures are taken to reduce empty space. Though there are many solutions.

2. What are the issues and opportunities faced by e-commerce packaging and logistics?

We have identified several issues. The first one is product integrity. Compared to traditional flows, where packages are handled about ten times and pressured “vertically”, e-commerce packages undergo over 50 manipulations which can be complex (the package might be flattened, shaken, collide with something, be thrown, etc.). Our second issue is to work on customer experience: wow effect, customisation, connectivity, empty space management. Our third issue, related to logistics, deals with tamper-proof packaging and returns management with reusable packaging. Finally, regarding sustainable development, we’re thinking about second life and empty space management.

3. According to DS SMITH, what are the key functions of these packages and what are the outlooks for sustainable logistics?

We give special importance to our customer experience. This involves several dimensions: managing empty space, working on emotions (through internal design and product disposition), guaranteeing the product security with tamper-proof packaging and making the consumer’s life easier with reusable packaging.

Home delivery does raise some issues. Nearly 25% of e-commerce products are not delivered the first time and 25% are sent back to the distributor or the manufacturer. This observation has led several players we have exchanged with to question the impact of home delivery on congested cities, the carbon footprint, and the visual impact. It could encourage the development of pick-up lockers in the e-commerce industry. We are also closely considering deliveries with non-human intermediaries (dogs, small shuttles, drones).

4. What are the topical issues that DS SMITH considers of high-priority and that the CNE could investigate with working groups or in any other form of communication (morning conference, etc.)?

I would say circular economy and its issues, new materials, connected packaging and industry 4.0.