Advancing sustainability in e-commerce packaging: A simulation-based study for managing returnable transport items

As e-commerce grows, tackling its environmental impacts, including those of packaging, becomes increasingly challenging. This study explores the benefits of reusable industrial packaging systems in the e-commerce industry, addressing ecological and financial perspectives. We contribute by formulating a generalized balancing problem for returnable transport items (RTIs) and developing a discrete-event simulation model and a heuristic to solve the problem. One methodological novelty is our modeling of network nodes that are simultaneously senders and recipients of RTIs. By applying the methodology to a case study of a large European e-commerce retailer, we address the need for industry-specific empirical studies comparing single-use and reusable packaging and RTI management in e-commerce.

The case study reveals that reusing packaging and balancing its inventory across the network, even with packaging materials designed for single use, coupled with harmonizing packaging solutions, may produce substantial financial and ecological benefits. Furthermore, ours is the first study to include a CO₂ price in optimizing RTI management. We find that while this does not have a positive effect on operational decision-making, it does steer strategic decisions towards more ecologically sustainable logistics systems. Our results indicate a savings potential of 30 to 75% of industrial packaging costs and an industry-wide CO₂ reduction potential of 200,000 to 600,000 tons annually in Europe alone. Our research contributes to theoretical and practical understanding of sustainable packaging in e-commerce, offering a model and strategies for industry adaptation amidst growing environmental and regulatory pressures.