The wrong box stock is
bleeding warehouses dry.
When the box assortment doesn't match the order mix, oversizing is inevitable — the wrong box is always at hand, the right one runs out first. Multiplied across a year, wrong stock and shipped air become a ~€500K leak per mid-sized SME.
per 300K-parcel SME
≈1.5% revenue · ≈15% net profit
void space
Operators estimate 25% void. Measured, it reaches 64%.
Forbes Insights and DS Smith asked e-commerce executives how much of each package is air. The assumption: about a quarter. DS Smith measured it — glassware came in at 64%, past the 50% ceiling the EU enforces from 2030. One rule of thumb cannot cover a whole catalogue. Void has to be measured per SKU, not estimated.
since 2019
E-commerce volume grew 25% post-pandemic. Box sizes didn't adapt.
EU online retail hit €887 billion in 2023, up 25% since 2019. Fulfilment operations scaled fast — box assortments didn't. Most warehouses still run on the same 3–5 box sizes they had in 2018.
The recycling stream is full. Online shopping increase and oversized boxes are why.
Cities like Amsterdam deployed dedicated "Kartonvreter" cardboard trucks in response to streets overwhelmed by e-commerce packaging. The EU generates 32 million tonnes of cardboard packaging waste per year. A half-empty box takes up the same space in a recycling container as a full one — multiplied across billions of shipments, the inefficiency becomes a city-scale infrastructure problem.
from right-sizing
You're paying to truck empty air across Europe.
Dimensional weight pricing means carriers charge for the space a box occupies — not just its mass. Right-sizing reduces DIM weight charges and cuts transport CO₂ by up to 30% per shipment by increasing truck load efficiency.
enforcement
The clock is running. PPWR caps void at 50%.
EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation Article 24 caps void at ≤50% for grouped, transport, and e-commerce packaging from 1 January 2030. Crucially, the regulation defines filler materials (paper cuttings, air cushions, bubble wrap, sponge filler, foam wool, wood wool, polystyrene) as empty space, not product. Methodology due Feb 2028. Main provisions apply Aug 2026. Fines up to €200K (NL/DE) or €100K (FR) per violation.
Independently validated — DS Smith measured the air.
Packaging giant DS Smith put hard numbers on "air-commerce": 85 million m³ of air shipped to UK homes every year, and 86,071 tonnes of avoidable CO₂. That's one country — now scale it to the EU's 27.
"Consumers want less packaging. Raw materials are more expensive than ever, and the benefits for the environment are significant, so now is the time to design the air out of online shopping."
Stefano Rossi · DS Smith Packaging CEO
