Austrian Post wants to deliver CO2-neutrally by 2030 and today, Thursday, presented a further step on the way to this goal at a press conference in Vienna. Together with trading partners, the listed company has tested packaging alternatives to reduce waste in online shipping. Cardboard boxes should be used several times to reduce the ecological footprint. The drugstore chain dm, Intersport, Thalia and Tchibo are on board as partners. However, one is open to other companies and could also imagine working with the online mail order company Amazon, said Peter Umundum, Post Director for Parcel and Logistics.
The retail companies can rent the reusable packaging from the post office and then offer it in their own online shop: the customer should be able to choose whether his purchase should be delivered in the free standard packaging or the “green” reusable packaging. A deposit is charged for the latter, the amount should be between one and five euros. Before the customer returns the packaging, he scans the barcode, whereupon he receives a credit note from the respective retailer in the amount of the deposit. Return options include post offices, partners, boxes and retail companies.
The service is to be offered from next spring. The project was preceded by a six-month test phase during which 10,000 packages were in circulation. The Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences accompanied the project scientifically. According to this, the return rate was between 26 and 70 percent, depending on the product group. The return worked best in connection with the return of goods. 264 customers were surveyed: 85 percent said they would pay a deposit of up to four euros.
Wood fiber better than plastic
The Upper Austrian University of Applied Sciences has also calculated the impact of packaging on the climate over its entire life cycle. According to Logistikum manager Franz Staberhofer, the boxes and bags made of wood fibers, which can be used up to 30 times, performed best: “Packaging made of recycled plastic is designed for up to 100 shipping cycles, but it is also much more complex to produce. The dealers still see a need for optimization with the packaging: the return for larger packaging still needs to be fine-tuned.
Source: Nachrichten
