Staples and Packsize win first place for sustainability from the World Packaging Organisation

Staples and Packsize International jointly won the “Gold Sustainability” top honor from the World Packaging Organisation during the 45th annual WorldStar Packaging Awards competition held during the Interpack trade fair in Düsseldorf, Germany.

The WorldStar competition is recognized as the pre-eminent international award in packaging and is presented only to those entries that had won recognition in an approved regional or national competition during 2013. The combined Smart-size Packaging nomination won the qualifying AmeriStar award in June 2013 and subsequently a WorldStar award last November.

Staples’ Smart-size Packaging, developed by Packsize International, resolves the number one customer complaint—excessive packaging. Smart-size Packaging measurably improves customer satisfaction and supply chain sustainability and efficiencies. For Staples, this translates to more than 15% less corrugated used, approximately 60% less void fill, and an improvement in less-than-full-case average cube utilization by 20%. By implementing Smart-size Packaging, Staples also reduces its annual carbon footprint by more than 25,000 metric tons annually.

On Demand Packaging technology creates delivery boxes customized for each order through a unique integration of technology, equipment, and processes. By working in partnership with Packsize, Staples created an efficient made-to-order process flow by optimizing order size, material requirements, and packaging throughput.