A partial requirement in Marketing Research

Alternative packaging in online shopping to reduce plastic waste

Submitted by
Alilio, Julius Alexius
Dadizon, Jhon Martin
Latayan, Gerald
Nicdao, Kyla Sheine
Regis, Kier Andrei
Sumagui, Niel Arvin

Submitted to
Mrs. Sherryl Cao / Professor

CHAPTER 1
 THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Background of the Study

The Philippines are preferably ready and showcase the Eco-Friendly environment

since back then Philippines was required to be responsible to take care of every trash

especially the non-biodegradable things that people put each in every sidewalk that is why

the constitutions establish REPUBLIC ACT 9003 this Act shall be known as the "Ecological

Solid Waste Management Act of 2000. Set guidelines and targets for solid waste avoidance

and volume reduction through source reduction and waste minimization measures, including

composting, recycling, re-use, recovery, green charcoal process, and others, before

collection, treatment, and disposal of inappropriate and environmentally sound solid waste

management facilities under ecologically sustainable development principles.    

The company of Lazada and Shopee are one of the competitive companies when it

comes to online shopping since its Pandemic consumers rely upon to buy from those stores

because it’s convenient to them and it can lessen the time for every shopper just add to cart

and then the product will deliver at the appointed time and date. This is undeniable to every

purchaser that this is easy for them to buy and buy a lot of things in the said shop company,

but the cause of shopping to the environment had, in reality, negative impacts since every

day tons of parcel using of plastic packaging big or small delivered every day the more

plastic consume the more environment suffer, it may not sure that millions of purchaser put

their trash in a right trash bin in really consumer most of the time they put their trash
somewhere, they don’t care about their trash the relevant to them are the product that they

purchase that is why it’s more suitable to present some Eco-Friendly Company that can help

company that are users of plastics as there packaging, the group introduce;

PAPEMELROTI is a family corporation engaged in the production of upcycled gift items

and decorative accessories, Stewardship of the environment. The family believes that the

environmental thrust of PAPEMELROTI is not separate from the Christian and Filipino

values and themes. The company buys recyclable wastes from independent picker-sellers and

also directly from MRFs Plastic bottles, eggshells, button, felt, cloth scraps, paper, carton,

leather, wood, iron scraps. The company has not formally measured the volume of wastes

upcycled. The assumption is that they are continuously helping reduce solid wastes from

their long years in the business that is why this kind of company is one of the examples to

motivate local products of the Filipino to uplift arts when it comes to being creative and

fashion and also having awareness in the environment since the Filipinos know of being

artistic and creative they are all expert in crafting’s, PAPEMELROTI is the finest crafting

company that can elevate other company to encourage using of plastics in online shopping of

packaging why not to consume strong paper bags so that consumers can recycle it and not

wasting in the trash like plastics, instead of bubble wrap materially better to use cut paper or

confetti or artistically bubble wrap made to paper just to protect what is the inside of package

even though it’s heavy the package still to care the product nonetheless using of plastics.

This study aims to help and give information on preventing plastics is a new norm to

achieve Eco-environment and to encourage as a consumer at the end people should need to

know what are the right and wrong thing to buy where are timely and relevant to their choice

of needs.
Statement of the Problem

One of the most critical matters today is the yearly trash generated by the usage of

plastics, as well as the long-term effects on the environment. Traditional plastic is

increasingly used around the world nowadays since it is cheap and accessible and alternative

packaging with more environmentally friendly but also pricier biodegradable seems difficult.

Packaging has been identified as a major source of pollution in recent years, necessitating an

increase in the need for environmentally friendly packaging.

Packaging has changed drastically over the years, owing to buyers' tremendous access

to information. To put it another way, buyers are well-informed about the impact of

packaging on the environment and resource waste, and they are looking for packaging that

satisfies their expectations. In this perspective, one of the most important criteria for buyers

is environmentally friendly packaging; that is, packaging that generates less waste, contains

recycled materials and can be recycled once it is empty.

A well-packed product can provide customer protection, packaging is one of the most

significant components of a tangible or intangible product. The package type is a means of

communication between businesses and their ultimate customers, and it can grab their

attention. Reduced use of plastics in various areas is one of the easiest and simplest ways to

reduce plastic waste. We marketing students, we want to encourage internet sellers to utilize

alternative packaging to lessen plastic waste. Nevertheless, current environmental protection

guidelines require it to not only secure objects but also to be environmentally friendly. In
today's world, packaging must meet both basic product needs and specific environmental

aims.

This research investigates how alternative packaging can reduce plastic waste from

online shopping in the Philippines.

Specifically this study will answer the following areas of concern:

1. What is the buyer profile of online shoppers in terms of

1.1 Age;

1.2 Gender;

1.3 Marital states; and

1.4 Educational attainment?

2. How can this help our society if we were to implement this kind of study?

3. Does reducing total waste produced by using biodegradable alternatives or circling

the material back into the system for reuse save labor costs?

4. Does Improving the life-cycle of your products allows for greater transparency

throughout the supply chain?

5. How can it help to decrease pollution?

Hypothesis

The question that are correlate converted and process to possess the hypotheses and

dependable to its variables and give a hypothetical solutions on how to give answers to

what we wanted to give a justification.

 H1: There is significant difference between the reducing total wastes produced by

using biodegradable alternatives or circling the material back into the system for reuse

save labor cost, has positive effect to stop consumption of plastic materials and innovate

some non-harmful materials as alternative.

H2: There is significant difference between the improving life-cycle of products

allows for greater transparency throughout the supply chain, has beneficial effect for

consumers that want to adopt changes that can innovate and make life easy to people

Significance of the Study

The result of the study was deemed to be significant to the following persons:

Delivery Business. The delivery business will benefit from this study because they

can use recycled paper instead of plastic. They can use recycled papers to save

expenses as well as it is an eco-friendly habit. Delivery business can offer a delivery

fee discount in exchange of returning the packaging that the customers had. They can

reuse the papers or paper packaging that they have collected from their customers.

The delivery business can sell the paper packaging too in order to promote it.
Environment. The environment, through conserving natural resources. Using

recycled papers can less water and air pollution. Recycled papers can help to reduce

the number of trees that are needed to cut down. Papers were vulnerable to water as a

result, marine animals cannot absorb papers. The papers is also non-poisonous that

means animal will not die on absorbing them.

Community. The result of this study was viewed to be significant to the community

to be aware that using recycled papers can reduce solid waste. The community can

save water as well as energy because they will not produce a new paper to the point

that it will use water and energy but instead, they will use a recycled paper. This can

avoid drainage being block that can make flood in a certain area. The community can

help the community to avoid consuming of contaminated water. It can help to reduce

the harvest of raw materials.

Students. Students are the main users of papers. They will learn the importance of

recycling and how it will affect the environment. Students can sell their used paper in

able earn some amount of money. They can use it to for their school projects. This

can help students to promote care for the environment.

Future Researchers. The researchers of the same or related topic would benefit from

the outcomes of this research. The next researcher will gather data in this study and
 became more aware to the said study. The researcher could use the gathered data as

their reference.

Scope and Limitation

This study is narrowed for online sellers of Lazada and Shopee for the country of
Philippines and management of alternative packaging of products in online shopping.

The study will cover the 2020-2021 years of service in terms of the usage of plastics
in online products. The respondents were limited to online sellers and students by using
recycled paper instead of using plastics packaging for their products.

The research was finite to online shopping identified through the analysis of data
gathered from quantitative research.

CHAPTER 2
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Review of Related Literature

The researchers will present related studies and literature in this chapter in order to

further examine and understand the alternative packaging in online shopping to reduce plastic

waste for Students

 According to Lui, J. (2013). Mountains to climb: China’s booming e-commerce

market creating waste-management headache, environment at risk. South China

 Morning Post, Tech Published on 31 March 2016. China’s booming e-commerce

market may be fueling increased domestic consumption but it has also created

environmental problems due to large amounts of parcel packaging waste. Most of the

waste is made of plastic that takes centuries to biodegrade at landfills, according to a

report from China’s State Post Bureau.

 According to Gloria Luo she is implementing the cost of packaging to the

environment and human health has yet to be factored in the market pricing

mechanisms, which means that companies do not have financial incentives to choose

more sustainable options.

 Go Green Project

In 2013, Cainiao Network launched this green logistics initiative with 32 Chinese and

international partners, focusing on green solutions such as promoting the use of greener

packaging and recycling, adopting electric delivery vehicles in nearly 20 cities, and applying

big data to improve efficiency in logistics. In 2015, the project saved 1 billion packing boxes

and delivered 0.5 million parcels packed in 100 per cent bio-degradable materials to

consumers. Continuing to optimize resources and minimize energy usage, the project aims to

reduce 3.62 million tons of carbon emissions from the industry by 2020.

 Environmental and social risks related to plastics

 The production, consumption and disposal of plastics bear diverse environmental and

social risks. First, the production of plastic materials relies on crude oil as a non-renewable

resource (Comanita et al., 2016; Lewis et al., 2010), but also the fact that the combustion of

plastics contributes to global warming is critical (Comanita et al., 2016; Mederake and

Knoblauch, 2019). Moreover, plastics entering the environment can cause habitat damage

(Comanita et al., 2016; Mederake and Knoblauch, 2019) and threaten wildlife through

entanglement or plastic ingestion (Derraik, 2002; Gregory, 2009; Mederake and Knoblauch,

2019). In addition to that, studies have found harmful effects of micro- and nano-plastics on

flora and fauna (Jpi Oceans, 2020; Mederake and Knoblauch, 2019).

 Waste prevention in order to reduce environmental plastic pollution

In Europe, waste management is governed by the revised waste framework directive

(WFD). Among other principles, the WFD introduces the concept of the so-called waste

management hierarchy (Fig. 1). It establishes a priority order for the policy and practice of

legislation on waste prevention and management. It had to come into force in all member

states of the European Union by December 2010 at the latest (Bartl, 2014). In this hierarchy,

waste prevention is given top priority. The prevention of waste is environmentally beneficial

in several ways. It reduces the sheer amounts of material that needs to be produced and,

consequently, that potentially can get into the environment. Yet also in terms of climate

change impact the prevention of waste is more effective than any other waste management
practice. Waste prevention not only avoids net greenhouse gas emissions from treatment and

disposal of waste, but also shows noteworthy benefits in avoiding greenhouse gas emissions

from less raw resource extraction and manufacturing (United Nations Environment

Programme [UNEP], 2010).

 Habits. The influence of habits and (social) norms on behaviors related to the use of

plastic seems to be the strongest hurdle among all when it comes to reducing plastic

packaging (Heidbreder et al., 2019). Heidbreder et al. (2019), for instance, delineate

two studies in which forgetting to bring one's own bag was the most common reason

for using plastic bags for shopping. Also Gifford (2011) points out that habits are

probably among of the most important factors that impede the mitigation of

environmental problems.

 Lack of knowledge. A second major barrier to more sustainable action is that once

people are aware of a problem, they do not know what to do about it (Gifford, 2011).

In respect to plastics, Heidbreder et al. (2019) summarize that knowledge about

plastic-free options and their characteristics is relatively low which can be a barrier to

reducing plastic packaging consumption.

 Social conventions. One barrier identified by Stengel (2011) concerns the social

conventions. The majority of the population follows prevailing opinions, trends and

conventions in their way of life (Stengel, 2011). Resisting social conventions is a

 personal burden (Stengel, 2011). Although there is a high level of problem awareness

with regard to plastics (Heidbreder et al., 2019), the daily plastic consumption is a

socially accepted standard behavior. Apart from these personal costs, plastic-free

consumption is constrained by structural barriers:

 Diffusion of responsibility. The diffusion of responsibility constitutes another barrier

for sufficiency (Stengel, 2011). Politicians and companies are waiting for signals

‘from bottom up’, whereas people see themselves as powerless and are handing over

responsibility ‘to the top’ (Stengel, 2011). The diffusion of responsibility for reducing

the consumption of plastic bags also played a role in the study of female market

vendors in Mali. The vendors emphasized structural problems (e.g., the lack of

appropriate waste collection services) and called for political solutions whereas when

policy makers were interviewed, they emphasized the consumers' responsibility

(Braun and Traore, 2015).

 Recycling potential in Online Shopping The explosion in e-commerce has been

undeniable. Our current global situation has urged the different industries to adapt the

way they provide their services & products, creating a higher demand for home

delivery. With 66% of Europeans claiming to have shopped online more since the

initial lockdown in March 2020 and 82% planning to shop online at the same level or

more post lockdown (Samat, 2014), online shopping will remain in the consumption

behaviour of potential customers. Even if consumers considered receiving their

 packages at their home or decided to pick them up, some other concerns may arise

with this new way of purchasing, especially with the packaging system and the

further waste disposal issues that the Netherlands has been facing. The high demand

for packaging material and the tight supply of waste paper are pushing up cardboard

prices (Velden & Stooker, 2021). Thus, there is an inconsistency in the collection of

material for repurposing, leading to an increase in the price of recycled material [+

214% in May 2021 (TMR, 2021)] and leaving the use of virgin material as a better

alternative to meet the demand for cardboard.

 According to Heidbreder et al. (2019, p. 1086) he conclude from their review on

perceptions, behaviors and interventions in order to tackle the plastic problem that

“more research is needed to identify factors for a general transformation in purchase

or reduction behavior”. Following this call, the aim of our paper is to determine

factors that influence individuals’ plastic packaging consumption level in Germany.

In view of the gap between intention and behavior described above, the question that

guides us in identifying these factors is: Which barriers prevent individuals in

Germany from reducing their everyday consumption of plastic packaging for food

and beverages? In countries of the Global North, food packaging accounts for

approximately 50 per cent by weight of total packaging sales and for about two-thirds

of all packaging waste by volume (Marsh and Bugusu, 2007; Pongrácz, 2007).

Therefore, food packaging presents one of the largest groups of plastic packaging

waste.
 According to K. Chueamuangphan, P. Kashyap, C. Visvanathan (22 June 2019)

Online shopping, a form of electronic commerce (e-commerce), is a type of

business where buyers and sellers interact electronically (using the Internet

channel) for the exchange of goods and services and payments of the transaction.

E-commerce offers positive environmental effects, for example, greenhouse gas

emission reduction due to reduced traveling needs by individual consumers, and

other energy use in traditional brick-and-mortar shops. However, online shopping

is not entirely free from negative environmental impacts. Packaging waste from e-

commerce is one of such concerns. A typical e-commerce parcel may use up to

seven types of packaging materials: paper bills, envelopes, cardboard box, plastic

bags, woven bags, tape, and buffer materials (bubble wrap, styrofoam).

Environmental impacts of online shopping can be categorized into first-order

(information and communication technology equipment usage), second-order

(changing of processes and markets affecting the logistics system for product

fulfillment and delivery), and third-order (rebound) effects. Thai e-commerce

market is advancing to become one of Asia’s top performers. According to the

Electronic Transactions Development Agency, the value of the Thai e-commerce

market in 2016 was expected to reach 2,523.99 billion Baht. At present, Lazada is

a popular business-to-consumer e-commerce company in Thailand. A survey

conducted to identify consumers’ awareness and willingness to reduce

environmental impacts of online shopping revealed that a 13.8% of the

respondents had never purchased anything via the online channel, citing lack of

opportunity to touch/feel the product, and fear of deception being the reasons. Of
 the online shoppers (86.2%), only 11.8% felt that the product arrived with an

‘excessive’ packaging, and they, however, simply discard those packaging

materials. In order to transform e-commerce into Green commerce, companies

need to invest in packaging innovation and sustainable supply chain mechanisms

including reverse logistics system to promote reuse and recycling, while

consumers also need to display sustainable consumption behavior.

 According to Zimmermann, Till; Bliklen, Rebecca (2020) The market share of online

retail has continued to grow over the past few years, most recently accelerated by the

COVID-19 pandemic. Individual shipments give rise to additional shipping

packaging. Our carbon footprint comparison shows that reusable packaging is

environmentally advantageous if it is reused often enough. To achieve this, however,

political and economic incentives seem necessary.

 According to Cheng, Karen,S.M. (2019) Packaging plays an essential role in

protecting a product from damage, attracting consumers to purchase a product, and

facilitating storage and consumption. Yet its appreciation and value is quickly eroded

once the product is purchased and/or consumed and the package becomes waste. With

the passing of China's National Sword policy in 2018, post-consumer materials

recycling markets are threatened and resources are not being recovered due to high

contamination rates. The development of new packaging material has surged in recent

years but has not corresponded with development of the necessary recycling
 infrastructure. Consumers want to recycle but are confused about how to most

effectively do so. Packaging continues to consume our finite resources and pollute

our terrestrial and marine environments.

Synthesis

The online shopping industry has grown exponentially during the pandemic, and
unfortunately so has the plastic waste from all our packages. This shouldn’t be surprising
considering how many Lazada and Shopee reviews comment on quality of the packaging
rather than the actual product itself. 
Corporate accountability and transparency regarding plastic packaging waste. In order
to address the problem, we have to see the bigger picture and understand how much plastic
packaging waste is being discarded, and it always begins from its source, the company. This
also provides the baseline for future reduction targets for plastic packaging as well.
Publishing these estimates publicly also helps build confidence that Lazada Philippines and
Shopee are committed to curbing its plastic packaging waste.
Show and strengthen internal mechanisms, if there is any that ensure the
environmental sustainability of the company. It will greatly benefit the public if Lazada and
Shopee are open and transparent about your other internal company policies that demonstrate
your commitment to environmental health through your Corporate Social Responsibility
targets.
The development of policies that ensure the rational reduction of unnecessary plastic
packaging. Consumers have noted that some parcels do not warrant excessive bubble wrap,
or multiple layers of plastic which has no use, other than being reused again by some
environmentally-minded consumers and vendors. Perhaps it is time to curb down on
unnecessary packaging by introducing policies that discourage unnecessary packaging in a
rational manner. By rational we mean setting a standard for what kinds of products merit
thick plastic wrap, and what doesn’t. If vendors are already doing this, we think that it is also
time for the platform itself to adopt more environmentally-friendly policies.
Setting reduction targets for the reduction of plastic packaging waste. While we
understand that vendors and couriers also have the responsibility of cutting down on plastic
packaging waste, Lazada Philippines is in an important position especially since your
company has an in-house fleet and a stable logistics warehousing infrastructure across
different regions in the Philippines. Having this much control over packaging means that
Lazada has the power to curb plastic packaging waste. Setting reduction targets ensures your
company’s commitment to this endeavor, as well as being sustainable enough for your
business. Shopee likewise can also reduce unnecessary packaging by working with their
logistics partners to come up with reduction targets.

This problem is exacerbated when we look at the plastic waste we produce annually.
Each person contributes around 12.4kg of packaging waste, most of which end up in landfills
and left to decompose slowly for hundreds of years. This problem is only magnified because
of the current COVID-19 pandemic, where plastic waste is projected to increase by as much
as 300%.

As much as consumers are responsible for waste disposal, so too are corporations
accountable for the plastic they end up producing, especially unnecessary plastic packaging.
Sellers themselves have noted this and are doing reduction and reuse strategies on their own
initiative. One doesn’t need to look further, our own parents have always reused plastic
packaging as a cost-saving technique, and as a waste reduction method.

If consumers and sellers are already doing their share for a healthier planet, why can’t
corporations take on the same responsibility and accountability? We’re calling the largest E-
Commerce Companies in the Philippines, Lazada and Shopee, to be part of the
#BetterNormal.

Theoretical Framework

Theory of planned behavior and elements of green packaging: Impact on

purchasing and disposal behavior from a consumer perspective.

According to Sara Peron, this theory is about waste disposal issues. It focuses on

preferring green packages that can be disposed in an eco-friendly way. The objective

of this theory is to analyze the relationship between packaging, buying and disposal

behavior of people. It collects answers from age 15 year old and above because it was

the minimum age to work.

 Our research was about alternative packaging for online shoppers and to reduce the

plastic waste. The theory and our research has a similar goal that lead them to support

each other. By studying the behavior of typical online buyers, developing packaging

materials made out of recycled paper can give a massive impact on reducing plastic

waste.

Conceptual Framework

The Conceptual Framework considering the study that focuses on the problem and how it

gives an alternative concept to review some theories and how alternative packaging is good

for every consumer that are use plastics that causes some illness to environment.

PROCESS
INPUT OUTPUT
 Data collection of
 Profile of  Assessed level of
profile of
respondents satisfaction of
respondents
 Gender respondent
 Administering wanted for
 Age questionnaire
 Marital Status alternative safety
 Organizing of materials for
 Educational respondents packaging
Attainment (Tabulate)
 Customer
 Statistical analysis
Perspective
of data

FRAMEWORK
Assessing consumers that using an alternatives give more satisfaction
and more useful that can help environment.
 Figure 1 indicate the research paradigm of the study. The research paradigm gives

detail illustration of the variables that involves in the study. The input views about

information of the respondents that relatively from adults to young that are preferably buy to

online shops. The process views about assessing of the answer of the respondents that which

their more prepare for their packaging. The output views about the total of respondents votes

from their choices of packaging.

In other hand the decision are dependable to the customer’s choice, this research

study possess what more likely people wants to attain what more good to them. Furthermore

the customers are made the good choice and this research explain to them that using some

alternative packaging are also good not for people of choice but as a whole and to our

environment.

Definition of Terms

Alternative Packaging

- An alternate way to reduce product wastes such as plastics and any other form

of material that can cause harmful effect to the environment.

Brick-and-Mortar shops

- refers to a traditional street-side business that offers products and services to

its customers face-to-face in an office or store that the business owns or rents.

Corporate Social Responsibility

 - is a management concept whereby companies integrate social and

environmental concerns in their business operations and interactions with their

stakeholders.

E-commerce

- also known as online shopping, is the buying and selling of goods and services

through digital business transaction specially on the internet.

Eco-environment

- The system of relationships between living things, and with their environment.

It is related to the product that is not contributing any harmful effects to the

ecosystem.

Eco-friendly

- It means a product that is earth friendly or not harmful to the environment.

Specially a product that has the capability of reducing wastes.

Environmentally-minded

- Mindful of the need to protect the natural environment from the harmful

effects of human activity.

Lazada

- An online shop that was established on March 12, 2012 by the Albaba group

in southeast Asia. It is successful because of its quality product that is being

distributed among the consumers of Asia.

MRFs

- Called as materials recovery facility that is responsible for separating and

preparation of recycling materials that are being sold to end buyers.

Nano-Plastics

- Nano-plastics is the process of making the plastics thinner making it more

easy to dissolve, preventing calamities.

Non-renewable

- is a natural resource that cannot be readily replaced by natural means at a pace

quick enough to keep up with consumption.

Plastic packaging

- It is a way of presenting a product through covering it with plastic.

Recycling

- It is an alternative way to reduce waste by converting materials such as

plastics, paper, metal, & etc to produce a whole new product.

Shopee

- An online shop that was founded on February 5, 2015 by Forrest Li a

Chinese-born Singaporean billionaire businessman. It is known for providing

customers with an easy, secure and fast online shopping experience through

strong payment and fulfillment support.

Structural Barriers

- are hindrance that collectively affect a group excessively and maintain stark

disparities in outcomes.

Waste-Management

- A management in which a segregation of trash by collecting, transporting and

treating disposal of waste.