Carbon-neutral packaging answers the call of ecommerce consumers

Published 24 February 2021

Packoplock, a Swedish packaging supplier, sensed an inspiring shift in e-commerce behavior – consumers and sellers alike started to ask for fully carbon-neutral packaging to support environmentally conscious thinking. For Packoplock, the launch of a carbon-neutral packaging line was a natural step forward as their customers strive to reach their climate goals.

Pioneering carbon neutral ecommerce

As ecommerce continues to grow, the number of ecommerce retailers also grows - and they need strong partners to serve them with everything they need to get customers' orders packed up and shipped, safely, securely, and - crucially - in as environmentally friendly a way as possible.

This is where Swedish packaging retailer Packoplock comes in. They supply small- and medium-sized ecommerce companies with boxes, paper mailing bags and other products to ship the valuable items people order online.

What sets Packoplock apart is their commitment to reversing climate change, which even goes beyond their own business. Not only do they work to get their own carbon emissions down to zero, but Packoplock also actively helps their customers reach their environmental targets as well.

“We wanted to launch a fully carbon neutral packaging line for our customers. We knew that there was market demand, and we knew that with the force of our personal motivation, we could do it” says Mikael Holmberg, CEO of Packoplock.

CarbonZero product page

Packoplock Scandinavia AB

Founded 2007
100 employees
82K+ customers
40M€ turnover in 2020
Headquarters in Norrköping, Sweden
Sales throughout Scandinavia
Emissions target 0%

Visit them at
www.packoplock.se in Sweden, www.napakka.fi in Finland, and www.husted-emballage.dk in Denmark.

Going the extra mile for carbon neutrality

Packoplock wants to offer as climate-neutral a packaging portfolio as possible. That’s why their raw material comes from sustainably managed forests, and they focus on lowering transportation emissions as well emissions caused by office management. Packoplock’s customers want this too, and they had one main request: They wanted their products shipped in a carbon-neutral package.

Since production always causes emissions, Packoplock wanted to find a way to compensate the remaining emissions and create a carbon-neutral effect for their business.

This is where CarbonZero from StoraEnso was a perfect fit. The CarbonZero service is a way for customers to offset the remaining emissions from the production process. Compensation is made in climate-neutral projects through Stora Enso’s compensation partner South Pole, and all projects are Gold Standard certified. Moreover, the compensation is made based on extensive life-cycle assessment (LCA) calculations performed by Stora Enso on behalf of customers.

Eco-friendliness starts with lifecycle understanding

“If you really want to know how much emissions your production causes, you have to do a thorough life-cycle assessment (LCA). This means we calculate emissions in every step of the package’s lifecycle, from cradle to grave. Since our customers have customized solutions and products are designed for their individual needs, there are many variables and the calculations take a lot of time and effort, but the value of the results makes it worth it”, says Johan Lunabba, SVP, Sustainability at Stora Enso.

LCA calculations take time and expertise to do right, and many small companies do not have the resources for this. With Stora Enso taking care of the LCA calculations, companies are able to understand the climate impact of the packaging they purchase and use the results in their environmental reporting and to achieve their climate goals.

“We knew there was market demand for carbon neutral packaging, and our hearts were in it. We knew we could do it.”

Mikael Holmberg

The time to act is now, and everything we do has an impact

Mikael says that consumers in the Nordic countries have become dramatically more aware of climate change within the past three years. And they also begin to understand that taking action towards a more climate-positive world is as natural, and as easy, as brushing your teeth.

"Look around you. There's pollution in the sky, there's plastic in the oceans. We felt that we must solve this, and we have the means to do it. We do this from the heart. We try to increase climate thinking and minimize CO₂ emissions in every action we take.”

90% carbon neutral across Scandinavia in 2 years

Mikael has an ambitious but critical vision for the future of packaging, not just for Packoplock but for all similar companies. “We hope that, in 2 years, 90% of the ecommerce packaging in Scandinavia will be carbon neutral.”

“The fact that we are able to sell products that are already carbon compensated makes it easy for our customers to take another step towards more climate neutral production all together,” Mikael continues. “We believe that carbon-neutral packaging adds huge value to our customers. It also encourages them to dig deeper and make other parts of their production carbon-neutral as well.”

Adds Johan: “We’re very happy and proud of our partnership with Packoplock, as the most inspiring results are created in collaboration. For me it truly feels that we have moved beyond a transactional relationship to something much more impactful, generating new opportunities for both companies. By using our competence in climate. LCA, data, and expertise to minimize CO₂ emissions throughout the value chain, we are able to better serve our customers, their customers, and ultimately the entire planet.”

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