Each year, millions of pounds of cardboard is used to ship packages, food and other goods to consumers worldwide. While some of this cardboard is recycled, the rest is not and it ends up in landfills, causing more cardboard to be manufactured and thus leading to environmental impacts that contribute to climate change.
With e-commerce only expanding as more consumers shop online instead of traditional stores, LivingPackets is looking to combat the packaging problem with The Box, a reusable system that eliminates carboard packaging and plastic cushioning materials, and that can be reused more than 1,000 times.
The Box, which will be demonstrated at CES 2020, features real-time content control with a built-in camera and a cushioning system that doesn’t require the use of other packaging materials such as bubble wrap. There is also an electronic display to avoid labels, tape and to control delivery. Additionally, The Box’s content can be viewed in real-time with delivery address modifications done in just a few clicks as well as keeping the sender and recipient informed in real time.
Alexander Cotte, CEO of LivingPackets, told Electronics360 that The Box could potentially handle 80% of all current online deliveries based on collaborations with e-commerce companies. The company is also exploring different formats and additional opportunities to meet all package deliveries such as a potentially larger sized container.
“We see The Box as the foundation for a circular ecosystem, which means a dramatic shift from one-way deliveries to a more sustainable model. In order to achieve our goal, we are partnering with companies that become nodes in our network and can benefit from a convenient delivery experience for end consumers or donors,” Cotte said.
To do this, LivingPackets has run pilot programs with Cdiscount and Orange in France and the company has been approached by many e-commerce companies in the U.S. and Europe. Commercial launch of The Box is slated to begin in 2020, Cotte said.
Cotte said the business model for The Box is a package-as-a-service platform where e-commerce companies do not buy the boxes directly, but pay for using them. The service also extends beyond just basic deliveries.
“What’s important for us is that The Box isn’t designed to simply go back and forth between a single e-commerce company and its customers,” Cotte said. “Of course, returning goods are a major part of the global e-commerce experience, and with The Box they just take a few moments: Customers just need to decide if they want to return an item and The Box automatically updates the shipping label on the display with the push of a button.”
Beyond sending and returning goods, Cotte said the reusable packaging could be used to send goods people no longer need such as school supplies, old electronics or clothing to participating organizations. LivingPackets is also exploring and working on new ways to leverage the system, but nothing has been officially announced.
CES 2020 takes place Jan. 7-10 in Las Vegas.
