Thinking inside the box

Two billion pounds of paper and cardboard waste are generated every year by U.S. healthcare facilities.¹ One solution to significantly reducing this waste comes in a box: It’s called right-size packaging.

Understanding right-size packaging

Right-size packaging offers companies in the healthcare industry an innovative opportunity to help make progress toward their sustainability goals, while maintaining product integrity, and ultimately keep patients healthy. Traditionally, packing boxes came in standard sizes, regardless of product sizes. One estimate puts the typical box at 40% too large for its contents.²

• Oversized packaging has taken its toll on the environment and public health due to over-use of paper, as well as the plastic that’s used as dunnage. Consider these facts from The World Counts and Plastic Oceans:^{3, 4}
• 93% of paper comes from trees
• Every tree produces enough oxygen for 3 people to breathe
• Pulp and paper are the 3rd largest industrial polluter of air, water and soil
• Chlorine-based bleaches are used during production which results in toxic materials being released into water, air and soil
• It’s estimated that more than 10 million tons of plastic is dumped into the oceans every year, with packaging accounting for 40% of total plastic usage

Right-size packaging aims to help turn this around. “Right-size packaging is a strategy and system to use the appropriate amount of material for a product,” explains Medline Director of Environmental, Social and Governance, Marley Leitner.

Right size packaging initiatives starts with product development and can occur at all phases of a product’s lifecycle. Every phase should be considered when exploring ways to reduce paper and plastic usage. Product packaging itself affects sizing for the proper shipping method.

Mixed-use packaging helps eliminate air space and the need for dunnage beyond what’s required to produce the product. Finally, end of life recyclability needs to be considered, as paper is the most commonly recycled item.

Why choose vendors that choose right-size packaging

Right-size packaging is more environmentally friendly than traditional packaging processes and it makes smart business sense. “Right-size packaging is a tangible action that companies can take to reduce their carbon footprint, reduce waste, and progress towards their sustainability goals,” Leitner says. Companies like Medline are starting to implement right-size packaging technology as a potential means to reduce its carbon footprint.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency describes Scope 3 emissions, also known as the Corporate Value Chain Accounting and Reporting Standard, as, “the result of activities from assets not owned or controlled by the reporting organization, but that the organization indirectly affects in its value chain.”⁵

“Right-size packaging is a tangible action that companies can take to reduce their carbon footprint, reduce waste, and progress towards their sustainability goals.”— Medline Director of Environmental, Social and Governance, Marley Leitner

Facilities that have historically focused on measuring emissions from internal operations and consumption are beginning to view Scope 3 emissions data as an opportunity to broaden their sustainability success.

“A lot of hospitals are looking to reduce their supply chain emissions,” notes Medline Director of Sustainability Jim Burgess. “Right-size packaging is one of the ways that they can achieve that in a material way.”

Fewer trucks on the road

On top of its 20-plus years of supply chain automation, Medlinehas begun to implement right-size packaging technologies with the intention of helping its customers reach their Scope 3 emissions goals by packing products in more sustainable ways.

Considering how much larger a typical box is than it needs to be, it’s easy to see how right-size packages create more space in a truck for more product and therefore less stress on transportation needs. One study estimates that better use of truck space would result in 24 million fewer truckloads per year,² reducing greenhouse gas emissions due to transportation, which the EPA cites as the largest share of GHG emissions.⁶

“We’re able to more densely pack the trucks that are going outbound,” says Medline Director of Engineering Travis Marks.

“Small changes add up across our large network, and continuing to more densely pack trucks can be a practical way to reduce GHG emissions in the supply chain,” Burgess adds.

Waste reduction on the frontline

Decreasing packaging waste on the supplier side leads to a smaller environmental footprint for the healthcare facility. “They have to handle the waste, so the less waste we ship to them ultimately is a benefit for the customers as well,” Marks says. A growing number of healthcare facilities are seeking vendor partners that are committed to sustainable practices. Right-size packaging reduces materials and can also help reduce truckload deliveries, providing another potential positive impact.

Increased operational efficiencies

Right-size packaging also helps cut down on labor and space on the customer side, because there’s less material to unpack and smaller boxes to store. “I’ve been to many customer visits and would say the storerooms and receiving docks are often much smaller than I would ever imagine,” Marks notes. “Reducing the physical size of the delivery is beneficial to the customer,” he says.

Right-size packaging has been launched in several ways at Medline’s largest distribution facility in Grayslake, Illinois. Machines from by eco-friendly packaging company RanPak use cartonization logic to prompt Medline employees to select the smallest tray and lid, minimizing the amount of cardboard and void material. Medline is measuring cardboard reduction and improved trailer utilization, as well as plastic usage reduction, “because this specific technology takes all of the void or all of the air out of the package, and it shrinks it down to the size of the order,” he says.

Looking beyond the facility doors

Healthcare systems see the direct impacts of climate change on their patients and communities every day. When healthcare organizations take steps to reduce their own carbon footprint, the trickle-down effect is felt by their patients who will return to a healthier environment.

“In healthcare, classically, we have only cared about getting the patient out of the hospital, cured from whatever it is they might be there for,” Burgess says. What has been overlooked is the environment a healthcare facility sends their patients back into. “Eventually that environment can make them sick again,” Burgess adds. “We’ve got to take all that into account and start to be better at it.”

Regulatory requirements are trending up

“A lot of our customers are asking for sustainability data because they have to report on their entire supply chain carbon footprint,” Marks says. The fact is, while some healthcare facilities are choosing to elevate their sustainability goals, regulations may soon require it. The European Union Parliament has already presented rules that would include packaging reduction targets.⁷ And some states are following suit. Legislation has passed or is being passed in New Jersey, Maine, Oregon, California and Colorado, with bills up for consideration in other states.⁸

“I think we are only beginning this journey for right-sizing and sustainable materials,” says Medline Senior Operations Engineer Anthony Alvizu. Whether setting an example for others to follow or meeting regulation requirements, working with a supplier who employs right-size packaging technology can help the healthcare industry embrace a circular economy that reduces waste, improves supply chain efficiencies and has a positive effect on the health of their patients.