#CarbonCatchers series
With the interconnectedness of our modern world, packages can now be sent and received halfway across the globe in record time. As a result of consumerism and the fast-pace of modern life, packages are now expected to arrive in a short amount of time. With this, packages are sent on shipping containers and now airplanes, greatly adding to their environmental impact. The cost of shipping is also ever decreasing. A review of 3 major shipping companies in the US shows that on average a 2-pound (nearly 1 kg) package can be sent from Los Angeles to New York for less than $13 in 4 days (Haan, 2020). The low cost and speed of delivery has made it easier than ever to send packages – but at what cost to our environment? The aim of this article is to detail this environmental impact and to provide you some options for the next package you order.
Figure 1: Packages waiting to be delivered. Image taken from Unsplash by Claudio Schwartz.
Shipping industry
In order to calculate the carbon cost of sending a package, the method of transport is very important. Globally, the shipping industry transports the largest number of goods annually. The quantity of goods now sent by shipping container has risen to 1.83 billion tonnes as of 2017. This figure is projected to increase further in the coming years. The largest shipping company is APM-Maersk and the largest container port is Shanghai, China (Wagner, 2019). Total shipping emissions, based on a multi-year average, account for 2.8% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide with international shipping emissions accounting for 2.4% of all greenhouse gas emissions. This equates to 1,036 million tonnes CO2eq per year for total shipping and 866 million tonnes CO2eq per year for international shipping. These figures are staggering. Even more concerning is the fact that the global shipping industry is responsible for 13% and 12% of annual global NOx and SOx emissions respectively (Smith et al., 2015). While a lot of the freight on board these shipping containers is much larger than your average parcel or package, a high amount of the freight does consist of packages sent halfway across the world.
Figure 2: MSC shipping container. Image taken from unsplash.com by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen.
Air Cargo
Despite the large quantities of CO2 emitted by the shipping industry, it is still a much better way to send packages around the world than by airplane. As calculated by Time for Change (2011), one tonne of freight transported 1km by a modern ship emits between 10 to 40g of CO2 while one tonne of freight transported 1km as air cargo emits ~500g of CO2, up to 50 times more than shipping. It should also be noted that the figures for CO2 emitted by air cargo are based on figures from Lufthansa and that figures for other airline companies may be much higher due to the use of older planes. As an example of the volume of cargo sent as air freight, in June 2019, air freight from the US to the rest of the world reached 925,982 US tons (840,036 tonnes) for that month (US Department of Transportation, 2020).
In comparison to other forms of transport, shipping still has the lowest environmental impact. A modern freight train emits 30 to 100g of CO2 per tonne and km of transportation and a modern lorry or truck emits between 60 to 150g of CO2 per tonne and km of transportation.
Figure 3: Bar chart of CO2 emissions of different transport methods for goods. Emissions measured as grams of CO2 per tonne per kilometre.
Next day delivery
Speed of delivery is now an issue of great concern. Due to expectations of fast delivery, many companies do not optimise their delivery routes and send packages on trucks which are not filled to capacity, thus increasing the environmental impact per item. Amazon prime, which promises next day delivery, helped spreading this trend. Next day delivery generates more use of air cargo for transportation rather than using a less environmentally damaging method as it takes longer.
Wrapping it up
Another major environmental concern with an ever increasing number of packages being sent around the world is the plastic and cardboard used to wrap and protect these packages. An article by Fast Company (Peters, 2018) has said that the cardboard used for packages sent in the US alone in 2017 equates to nearly 1 billion trees (not taking into account other types of packaging). Much of this ultimately ends up in the oceans where it is predicted that by 2025 there will be 1 tonne of plastic for every 3 tonnes of fish (Donoso and Merkl, 2015). While of course this will not originate from packaging, it puts in perspective the wastefulness of the industry.
Carbon Neutral Shipping
Many companies now offer carbon neutral shipping packages, for example UPS. They do this through calculating their fuel, water, paper they use and depending on the miles travelled by a particular shipment they offset the required CO2eq through projects based throughout the world (UPS, 2020). While it is so encouraging to see companies as large as UPS tackle their environmental impact, not all companies do this. That is why we at Tree-Nation have our Offset Products program to help companies neutralize the emissions of shipping packages.
Solutions
The increasing volume of packages sent around the world has a significant environmental cost from both the method of shipping and the materials used to package the items. Some companies are making efforts to reduce their environmental impact but many are not trying hard enough.
As a concerned consumer it often feels like there is not much control on how you receive your products. What can you do? We can provide you with a couple of suggestions:
- Buy less! Ask yourself if you really need this product. Graham Hill believes that owning (reasonably) less makes you happier.
- Give feedback to the company that sold you the product. Modern consumers are used to complaining to a company when they are not happy with the product. If you are not happy with the packaging, should it be different? You’ll be doing them a great service in providing them a valuable client opinion.
- Find a more local provider. Sometimes a product can be found cheaper at a longer distance. But the one paying the price difference is our planet.
- Prefer companies that offset their parcels or in case they don’t, go plant a tree :)
Our calculations
1 tonne of freight transported 1 km by a modern ship emits around 25 g of CO2.
1 tonne of freight transported 1 km by train emits 65 g of CO2.
1 tonne of freight transported 1 km by a modern lorry or truck emits 105 g of CO2.
1 tonne of freight transported 1 km by air cargo emits 500 g of CO2.
Keywords
#emissions #co2 #parcel #package #shipping #plastic #cardboard education #EcoEducation
References:
DelRay, J., 2017. Amazon is building a $1.5 billion hub for its own cargo airline. Recode, Accessed March 2020 < https://www.vox.com/2017/1/31/14462256/amazon-air-...>
Donosa, D. and Merkl, A., 2015. By 2025, our seas may be filled with one ton of plastic for every three tons of fish. The Guardian, Accessed March 2020 <https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2...>
Haan, K., 2010, FedEx vs UPS vs USPS: Price, Features & What’s Best in 2020. FitSmallBusiness.com, Accessed March 2020 < https://fitsmallbusiness.com/fedex-vs-ups-vs-usps/>
Peters, A., 2018. Can online retail solve its packaging problem? Fast Company, Accessed March 2020 <https://www.fastcompany.com/40560641/can-online-re...>
Smith, T. W. P., Jalkanen, J. P., Anderson, B. A., Corbett, J. J., Faber, J., Hanayama, S., O’Keeffe, E., Parker, S., Johansson, L., Aldous, L., Raucci, C., Traut, M., Ettinger, S., Nelissen, D., Lee, D. S., Ng, S., Agrawal, A., Winebrake, J. J., Hoen, M., Chesworth, S., Pandey, A., 2015. Third IMO GHG Study 2014. International Maritime Organisation (IMO), London, UK.]
Time for Change, 2011. CO2 emissions for shipping of goods. Accessed March 2020 < https://timeforchange.org/co2-emissions-for-shippi...>
UPS, 2020. UPS Carbon Neutral Package Service. Accessed February 2020 <https://www.ups.com/gb/en/services/sustainability/...>
US Department of Transportation, 2020. US International air passenger and freight statistics. International Aviation Developments Series, Accessed March 2020 < https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files...>
Wagner, I., 2019. Container Shipping – Statistics and Facts. Statista, Accessed March 2020 < https://www.statista.com/topics/1367/container-shi...>
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