Magnit, together with leading players in the e-commerce market, FMCG and the non-profit association ECR Russia, have developed recommendations for sustainable transport packaging for e-commerce services and online retail chains.
The recommendations are intended to facilitate a broad transition to more sustainable transport packaging solutions for online retailers and delivery operators, without compromising on the safety and presentation of the delivered products. The new standard aims to help industry players choose functional packaging that has a lower environmental impact and reduces waste. At the same time, the recommendations are a voluntary tool for self-assessment and self-regulation for interested companies in the field of online trading.
The recommendations provide for the division of packaging into three “traffic light” categories: “best solution” (green zone), “acceptable” (yellow zone), “recommended to avoid” (red zone). The ranking covers all main categories of transport packaging (boxes, bags, film, wrapping, etc.), except for reusable ones (courier bags-backpacks). For example, low-density polyethylene (LDPE) bags are considered the preferred packaging, and the use of two-layer bubble-wrap paper envelopes or products with oxo-degradable additives should be avoided due to their inability to be recycled.
When developing the standard, the possibility of manufacturing packaging from renewable raw materials, the use of recycled materials in its production, ease of sorting and other parameters were taken into account. Thus, foam plastic filler is placed in the red zone, despite the possibility of recycling: there is not enough infrastructure for its processing, and it is impossible to use secondary raw materials in its production. Therefore, for packaging fragile goods, the best choice would be to use kraft paper filler.
Magnit for online orders, as well as in physical stores, already uses packaging that meets the "green" standard.
Nadezhda Galaktionova, Head of Sustainability at Magnit retail chain:
Magnit is actively involved in initiatives to reduce the plastic and paper footprint. We want to cover all areas of the company's activities, including offline and online sales channels, with green solutions, so we support the creation of recommendations for sustainable transport packaging in e-commerce. We are talking about plastic bags, which are most often encountered by buyers when delivering products. Throughout Russia, in traditional stores and our own Magnit Delivery service, we already use packaging containing recycled plastic. So, our bags are 35% recycled. As a responsible company, with our Sustainability Strategy, we want to be a strong advocate for sustainable packaging.”