Online Boom: Packaging Is Becoming Scarcer

Manufacturers of packaging materials have their hands full, yet they can barely keep up with the high demand. The high demand for packaging material, combined with planned maintenance work at production facilities in the EU and China, is causing supply bottlenecks that lead to price increases – that's according to the magazine Eurotransport, citing industry insider sources.

But it's not only packaging itself as the end product that is affected by rising prices – the problem already starts with raw materials: in February 2021, raw material prices were 16.2 percent higher, according to the German Association of the Corrugated Board Industry (VDW), than in the same month the previous year. With higher production volumes, maintenance and repair costs for machinery are also rising for manufacturers, as are the costs of operating supplies and energy.

There are also bottlenecks in recycled paper as a production material. Because more and more boxes ended up with private individuals during the pandemic and fewer with brick-and-mortar stores and the hospitality industry, these are not returning to the recycling loop quickly enough – not least due to lockdowns in individual countries or Brexit. In the UK alone, according to the Guardian, around 135 million boxes remained in households or were stuck in recycling depots.

As a result, purchasing departments for corrugated cardboard packaging are currently facing a long wait for new supplies. Due to delivery times of up to eight weeks, buyers cannot meet their needs promptly, as the industry portal Euwid describes the current situation. Plastic packaging, meanwhile, is hardly a viable alternative: on the one hand, raw materials and therefore packaging materials have also become significantly more expensive here,
and on the other hand, both shippers and customers place great importance on packaging that is as sustainable as possible.

According to surveys, two out of three online shoppers are in favor of environmentally friendly packaging. They prefer not only sustainable materials but also a packaging size that matches the size of the product. We at bergler industrieservices GmbH want to meet these requirements as a fulfillment provider and have switched almost entirely to paper and cardboard as filling material over the past twelve months – which is significantly more environmentally friendly compared to plastic bubble wrap. Sustainable packaging options are also highly relevant as part of our organic certification.