Sustainability & UK Packaging · Quick guide
Reducing Excess Packaging (Right-Sizing)
Published Reviewed
The most effective way to reduce excess packaging is to right-size it: make the box fit the product closely, choose the lightest board that still protects it, and remove anything that does not do a job. A made-to-measure box can often replace a stock box, void fill and an outer carton in one go, without compromising protection or presentation.
Why excess packaging happens
Most excess packaging is not a design decision; it is the result of making do. The usual causes:
- Stock sizes. A product that does not fit a standard box goes into the next size up, and the gap is filled with paper, air pillows or foam.
- Worst-case board. A heavy double wall board chosen "to be safe" for every product, including light ones.
- Layering. A retail box inside a mailer inside a shipping carton, each added at a different stage by a different team.
- Extras by habit. Tissue, stickers, leaflets and ribbons that nobody has reviewed since the first launch.
Each layer adds material, cost and handling. Removing them starts with measuring properly.
Right-sizing: make the box fit the product
Right-sizing means designing the box around the product's real dimensions, plus only the clearance the product and its insert need.
- Measure the product, not the old box. Length, width and depth of the product itself, in millimetres. Our guide on how to measure a box explains the order and conventions.
- Work from internal dimensions. The size you give us should be the space inside the box. Board thickness sits outside that, which matters most with corrugated board and greyboard. See internal vs external dimensions.
- Decide the clearance. A rigid product in a folding carton needs very little allowance; a fragile product in an insert needs room for the insert.
- Check the delivery format. If your parcel goes by post, design the external size to suit the size band you want to use. Our guide to Royal Mail and courier size bands explains how to plan for it.
Choose the right board, not the heaviest
A box that fits well needs less strength than a loose one, because the product is not moving and hitting the walls. That often means a lighter specification will do.
| Situation | Often over-specified as | Worth considering |
|---|---|---|
| Light product sent in a mailer | B flute or double wall | E flute corrugated |
| Retail carton that never travels alone | Rigid box | Folding boxboard carton |
| Heavy or fragile product by courier | Single wall with lots of void fill | Right-sized mailer with a fitted insert |
| Presentation box that is also shipped | Rigid box plus outer carton plus void fill | Rigid box with a close-fitting outer shipper |
These are starting points, not rules. The right grade depends on product weight, fragility and how the parcel is handled. Our comparison of E, B and C flute explains the corrugated options, and the corrugated board page covers grades in more detail.
Fewer components, each with a job
Go through every item in the pack and ask what it does. If the answer is "it always has been there", test removing it.
- Inserts instead of void fill. A die-cut board insert holds the product in place permanently, so loose fill is not needed. See custom inserts.
- Print instead of add. Instructions, thank-you messages and branding can be printed on the inside of the box rather than on a separate card. Our guide to printing inside boxes shows how.
- Integrated closures. A tuck flap or a crash lock bottom closes the box without tape or stickers; see crash lock bottom boxes.
- One material family. A board insert in a board box is simpler for your customer to deal with than foam in a board box.
- Windows only where needed. If a window is for display, consider whether an open die-cut window does the job without film.
One box that presents and ships
For e-commerce, the biggest single reduction usually comes from letting one box do two jobs. A printed corrugated mailer box in the roll-end tuck front style is strong enough to travel by courier and still gives a considered unboxing, so the separate retail box and outer carton can go.
This does not suit everything. Delicate rigid boxes, glass and some retail cartons still need an outer shipper. In that case, make the shipper close-fitting too, so the two boxes work as a system rather than a box rattling in a carton.
Plan the change properly
- Change one thing at a time where you can, so you know what made the difference.
- Test in real conditions. Ask about sample options when you request your quotation, and send a sample through your normal delivery route before a full run.
- Review the whole range. Ranges often grow one size at a time. Sometimes a few well-chosen sizes, each fitted with inserts, replace many near-duplicates.
- Keep your specification up to date. A written specification stops old habits returning at reorder; see our packaging specification template.
No Die Charges are standard on every order, so moving to a better-fitting size does not add a cutting-die charge. Tell us your required delivery date and our team will confirm whether the timing is achievable. For the regulatory side of packaging, see our guides to UK packaging EPR and the sustainable packaging guide.
Common mistakes
- Measuring the old box instead of the product. You inherit its excess.
- Giving external dimensions as internal ones, or the other way round.
- Cutting board weight without improving the fit. A lighter board in a loose box can fail.
- Removing protection without testing. Damage and returns quickly outweigh any saving.
- Forgetting the delivery format. A few millimetres can move a parcel into a larger size band.