REO asks online retailers to use less packaging during November sales

Photo by: ijeab / iStock

The Russian environmental operator (REO) has called on retailers to discourage unnecessary bags, boxes and wrapping film during Black Friday sales. A letter to this effect has been sent by the operator to the Internet Retailers Association.

Promotions during sales fuel demand, increasing the number of purchases several times over. This, in turn, leads to a huge amount of waste from packaging, which more often than not is not recyclable.

It is not uncommon for a single can of cream to be wrapped in several layers of plastic and paper packaging and then placed in a cardboard box, according to the ROE letter. A packaging volume that is several times the volume of the wrapped product is unacceptable and unsustainable.

“According to payment system analysts, clothing and accessories shops increased sales by 25% on Black Friday last year during the promotion. And tech shops increased by 7%. Accordingly, the amount of packaging generated during the promotional period also increased. This amounts to tens of tonnes of waste. Of course, these goods would have been sold out on some other days. But it is during such large-scale campaigns that the amount of waste increases (packaging is up to 50%!), and so does the load on regional operators,” said Denis Butsaev, Director General of REO.

ROE suggests that online retailers should reduce the amount of packaging, and switch to recyclable counterparts. For example, cardboard and recycled paper can be used in packaging instead of non-recyclable types of plastic. According to Denis Butsaev, it is equally important to work with suppliers to reduce the amount of packaging already at the production stage.

For example, in 2021 the largest marketplaces in Russia reported Black Friday sales. In one week, from 22 to 28 November, one of them had a 2.6-fold increase in total orders compared to 2020, and the number of orders increased by 2.7 times. Another online retailer received five times as many orders on the day of the promotion itself, 26 November, increasing sales turnover fourfold.

Cover photo: amenic181 / iStock