JOINT NEWS RELEASE BETWEEN NEA, SMF AND SINGPOST

Singapore, 4 March 2025 – The Alliance for Action (AfA) [1] on Packaging Waste Reduction for the E-commerce Sector has published a set of Guidelines on Sustainable E-commerce Packaging. The Guidelines were developed by members of the AfA, comprising 14 companies across the e-commerce supply chain (including marketplaces, retailers and packaging producers), organisations and experts. The AfA was co-led by the Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF) and Singapore Post (SingPost) and supported by the National Environment Agency (NEA).

2               The AfA estimates that about 186,000 parcels were delivered in Singapore per day in 2023, generating as much as 15,900 tonnes of mailing packaging in that year alone. E-commerce contributes to packaging waste, which is a key priority waste stream to address under Singapore’s Zero Waste Masterplan. All stakeholders in the e-commerce ecosystem, including businesses and consumers, have an important role to play in managing packaging materials responsibly.

3               The Guidelines provide a comprehensive list of concrete 3R (Reduce, Re-use, Recycle) solutions tailored to various types of e-commerce packaging, including cardboard boxes, mailers and fillers. For example, the Guidelines lay out seven different “Reduce” solutions for cardboard boxes alone, from simply expanding the range of box sizes available to avoid packing in oversized boxes to switching to lighter alternative packaging. Each solution is augmented with step-by-step actions for businesses to consider and the expected benefits and drawbacks. The Guidelines also benchmark the solutions based on the estimated effort, cost, and environmental impact to allow companies to select the one that best suits their needs.

4               Beyond 3R solutions, the Guidelines provide operating models for e-commerce marketplaces to promote sustainable packaging to consumers and drive awareness and responsibilities among suppliers. Another additional feature of the Guidelines is a scorecard that company leaders can use to assess the maturity of their management practices in relation to sustainable packaging and pinpoint areas for improvement.

5               Based on real-world case studies, companies may uncover opportunities to reduce packaging needs by up to 90 per cent, such as by switching from a corrugated cardboard box to a similar-sized paper mailer. Sealed Air had found that with quicker deliveries, apparel retailers required less protection for their packages and the amount of material used in its plastic and paper mailers could be reduced by 30 per cent to 50 per cent. Watsons Singapore also managed to reduce its use of bubble wrap and reaped packaging cost savings of 5 per cent to 10 per cent, by shredding and repurposing used cardboard boxes into filler material.  

6               The Packaging Partnership Programme, administered by SMF, will be organising workshops to promote the adoption of the guidelines among businesses.

7               The Guidelines on Sustainable E-commerce Packaging can be downloaded from https://go.gov.sg/sustainable-e-commerce-packaging-guidelines

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