Preferred Packaging: Accelerating Environmental Leadership in the Overnight Shipping Industry

The Alliance for Environmental Innovation has published an analysis of the environmental attributes of packaging provided by overnight shipping companies — FedEx, United Parcel Service, and all the rest, including the U.S. Postal Service. More than a billion paperboard envelopes, plastic envelopes, and corrugated boxes are used each year, and AEI says their environmental impacts are significant: the raw materials used to make paper and plastic, the energy used to convert them into finished goods, the air and water emissions that result from these processes, and the solid waste that comes from disposing of used packaging.

The report includes recommendations to businesses and organizations that purchase overnight shipping services. Says AEI: “Shipping customers should consider expanding the dialogue with their shipper to include environmental considerations along with cost and service issues.”