E-commerce websites have surely made our lives simpler. And it is also no news that these companies don't do any good for the environment. While they keep trying to function in a green way, it generates a ton of waste. And a recent study revealed that returning a package is more damaging to the environment than buying one from an e-commerce website.
According to studies, over four billion pounds of undesired goods end up being dumped in landfills. Moreover, 14 tons of carbon dioxide is released in the atmosphere when products are returned back to the seller.?
Reuters
The packaging material, damage during transit, labels, fuel consumption of delivery vehicles etc all amount to the waste generation while products are being delivered.
People tend to order clothes and other fashion items in different varieties and keep one that suits them, returning the others for a full refund.?
Such practices result in over three-million packages being returned every year and a large chunk of this is seen in December. United Parcel Service or UPS is expecting over a million packages to be returned throughout December, with 1.9 million just on January 2.
When compared with last year's numbers, this is an overall 26 percent increase, which only goes to tell how man people have started shopping online as opposed to in stores.?
Reuters
This year, the Single's day in China broke new sales records. However, these records came at a cost to the environment, particularly in the area of waste generation. The number of sales resulted in the generation of more than 250,000 tonnes of waste.?
Last year, the volume of packaging material used by the aforementioned sectors hit 9.4-million tonnes. It is expected to go as high as 41.3 million tonnes by 2025 if Chinese conglomerates keep moving at the current pace.