COVID-19 Reshapes E-Commerce Packaging: The Changing Landscape of Cartons, Pulp & Paper

The next chapter of packaging is becoming more layered, with environmentally aware buyers pushing a conventional sector toward ongoing reinvention. Before mapping what comes next, however, one fact is already clear: COVID-19 has left deep and durable marks on our industry.

Repeated lockdowns across the globe redirected consumer behavior and shopping routines, lifting e-commerce by 46%. During the pandemic, online orders flooded in and packaged deliveries reached new highs, forcing supply chains to respond quickly. As parcels were rushed from warehouses onto vans and then to front doors, their strength came under unprecedented scrutiny. Demand keeps rising for tough cartons that can safeguard goods across every delivery scenario.

Yet the pandemic was not the sole driver. While brick-and-mortar retail weakened, e-commerce was already racing ahead, and shoppers grew more conscious of how much packaging was moving through delivery networks. Sustainability—and higher use of recycled content—therefore became just as critical. Most cartons today use around 50% recycled corrugated material, and every additional tonne of corrugated material reused can spare up to 17 trees from being felled.

Recycled fiber has a clear limitation: with each reuse, the fibers become shorter, and their performance may gradually decline. After roughly 5–7 cycles, the fiber can no longer be used. In practical terms, the structural integrity of recycled corrugated cartons hinges on the quality of the raw material. There are many ways to address this, but the final trade-off among strength, sustainability and cost remains difficult to manage.

Because strength can only be tested after paper is formed, process optimization has limited scope to fine-tune virgin and recycled inputs so they meet specifications. That makes the surge in demand for ABB's virtual strength measurement, launched last year, hardly surprising. Its online calculation helps paper and packaging producers keep strength properties inside target ranges, yielding more specification-compliant paper at lower cost while cutting raw material consumption. ABB has also widened the use of online fiber measurement to improve fiber blend optimization.

What other forces are accelerating this shift?

COVID-19 will continue to influence the long-term future of e-commerce and packaging. McKinsey & Company notes that global packaging demand is expanding, and 2021 sales are expected to cross the US$1 trillion threshold.

Over the past 18 months, every lockdown has pushed corrugated carton demand higher, giving a brighter outlook to the paper packaging industry at the center of the e-commerce economy, which is valued at US$350 billion. Consulting firm Smithers reports that paperboard used last year to ship goods from retailers to households jumped by nearly 40%. By the end of 2020, Fisher International confirmed that US containerboard consumption reached a 40-year peak, and the paper industry's operating capacity expanded at a pace not seen in more than a decade, fueled by corrugated packaging growth.

Sustainability is one of the strongest forces behind positive change in our sector, as packaging clearly pivots toward lower material use and more natural solutions. Companies now face both an obligation and a commercial incentive to serve emerging consumers who care about a greener future. Unusually high e-commerce volumes, combined with younger generations' preference for brands that reflect their values, are prompting a rethink of waste and a gradual retreat from retailers that over-package or rely on unsustainable packaging.

Packaging's evolution will also be heavily influenced by demographic shifts and consumption patterns, such as rising urbanization and the related takeaway culture and demand for convenience. We are seeing changes from portable food containers to paper straws, which restaurants and consumers choose more often despite being less durable than plastic. This signals a changed appetite for reducing waste, requiring companies to optimize packaging material use and improve cost efficiency wherever possible.

This mood shift is largely encouraged and reinforced by regulatory changes, most notably the European Commission's Single-Use Plastics (SUP) Directive, which took effect in 2019 and is now extending into paper. It triggered a gradual ban on plastic shopping bags, compelling consumers to buy reusable or paper alternatives.

Practical guidance for e-commerce firms facing a changing packaging landscape

Manufacturers must balance sustainability with consumer preferences while ensuring packaging performs as required. Packaging strength should align with the product type to deliver a sturdy, high-quality result, and the key lies in knowing the source of the pulp/material blend used to make the carton.

The biggest challenge will be remaining relevant in a market that shifts and evolves rapidly. New entrepreneurs, lifestyles, venues and industries bring cutting-edge change, while e-commerce's rise has brought product safety, the unboxing experience, anti-counterfeiting measures and last-mile delivery optimization into sharper focus.

In essence, manufacturers must innovate to stay competitive and have the courage to go beyond merely improving packaging methods. We need to prepare for the circular economy and change our mindset so packaging can play a vital role in building a positive future.

——This article is reprinted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-378509.html