Is online shopping packaging waste a threat to the environment?

Yeonsu Kim, Jisoo Kang and Hyunbae Chun

Economics Letters, 2022, vol. 214, issue C

Abstract: A surge in packaging waste from online shopping is raising environmental concerns. In this paper, we examine the effect of online shopping on packaging waste generation. Using county-level waste generation and online shopping data, we find that online shopping generates 4.8 times more packaging waste than offline shopping given the same amount of spending. Our results suggest that a new policy is necessary to prevent further environmental damage due to the packaging waste from online shopping.

Keywords: E-commerce; Environment; Packaging waste; Credit card (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 L81 Q51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:214:y:2022:i:c:s0165176522000684

DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2022.110398

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