The sustainability of packaging for e-commerce: from system to product

The e-commerce is a fast-growing sector, which has substantial impacts due to delocalisation, cost-effectiveness, rapidity and availability anywhere at any time. It implies not only a different logistic organisation but requires a rad- ically different interaction between sellers and customers. This research aims at applying the concepts of local and sustainable development to the world of e-commerce, with particular attention to the role of packaging. The topic has been explored at two design levels: rst, the methodology of Systemic Design was used to de ne innovative fu- ture scenarios for the logistic management of the e-commerce system; secondly, different eco-design methodologies have been used to focus on the development of packaging for different scenarios. The analysis allowed to establish the main guidelines for the de nition of futuristic sustainable scenarios of logistics. Starting from these, six main trends for designing sustainable packaging have been identi ed and tested through real concepts.