China continues push for greener packaging

Reduced materials

Express delivery companies typically repackage goods using their own branded boxes, however, more recently, some shipments are being made using original boxes to save on excess packaging.

Gao Jiaqi, who is in charge of JDL Express' intelligent logistics park in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, said direct shipments are becoming more commonplace.

"When goods arrive at our warehouses from the manufacturers, we ship them directly to consumers without any repackaging," Gao said. JDL is the logistics branch of the e-commerce platform JD.

"Couriers only need to put an express waybill on the original package for goods suitable for direct shipments, such as packed tissues and diapers, and small electronic devices in individual packages," Gao said.

In total, direct shipment helped JDL reduce over 1 billion repackages last year.

ZTO Express, another major express delivery company in China, has been promoting the same practice. "Currently, all warehouses prioritize shipping goods in their original packaging from merchants," said Xu Yonggui, head of the marketing and branding department of ZTO Cloud Warehouse Supply Technology.

While direct shipment without repackaging reduces costs and waste, the product categories suitable for the shipment remain limited. "Smartphones and beauty products cannot be shipped directly in their original packaging," said Xu.

Since 2022, nearly 300 of ZTO's warehouses nationwide have used an intelligent system to recommend the most efficient repackaging.

"Suitable packaging avoids over-packaging, lowers costs and improves consumers' shopping experience," said Bian Yanjue, director of the customer service department of Beingmate, a corporate client of ZTO.

Express delivery companies have also been exploring ways to reduce material usage in packaging.

In 2023, JDL said it cut its use of cardboard boxes from between 5 to 25 percent by changing their design.

Last year, over 860 million of these upgraded boxes were used, reducing 12,164 metric tons of carbon emissions, the company said.

JDL said it had also reduced plastic in its express bags by 20 percent.

"To reduce plastic tape usage, we no longer use the traditional cross-wrapping method," Xu said. "Instead, we now secure packages using one to three strips of tape, depending on the box size." These more efficient taping methods have also been widely adopted across the industry.