Abstract

Due to the rising demands of package delivery, packaging for online orders has been produced rapidly in recent years. It includes plastic waste, paperboard waste, and energy waste. These wastes negatively impact the surrounding environment, natural creatures, and even human health. In this paper, a sustainable packaging design for online orders is explored that can not only help ecological systems on this planet, but also benefit the online retailers with a better package life cycle. This project is aimed to design a new packaging solution with adjustable and reusable features, which reduces packaging waste and provides a better package life cycle. The author focuses on redesigning a secondary packaging solution that creates a more efficient and eco-friendly way for online order delivery. In the research section, the author goes through a significant volume of waste caused by online delivery packaging, what aspects of packaging waste affects humans negatively, reasons that lead to severe packaging waste, methods to reduce packaging waste, and the existing sustainable packaging design for online delivery. After research, the author proposes a few potential packaging design ideas to alleviate the issue of excess packaging waste, enhance the efficiency for people to operate a package, and create a more completed packaging life cycle for retailers. User testing, interviews with experts in packaging science, and potential consumers help to inform the development of this project. The author evaluates ideas based on interviewees’ feedback and determines a final idea with most possibilities to continue physical testing and refinement steps. The final solution is durable, resizable, and reusable packaging. Furthermore, the author concludes with the benefit and future potentials of this design.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Packaging--Design--Environmental aspects; Sustainable design; Salvage (Waste, etc.)

Publication Date

5-1-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Industrial Design (MFA)

Department, Program, or Center

School of Design (CAD)

Advisor

Alex Lobos

Advisor/Committee Member

Lorraine Justice

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

Plan Codes

IDDE-MFA

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