A customer has criticized Officeworks after the stationery giant delivered her 38 items in 23 different cardboard boxes.
A Western Australian mother posted photos of her online order on social media and asked if anyone knew why the company needed so much packaging.
She shared a photo of all the boxes on her kitchen table.
Another photo showed a single pack of highlighters standing alone in a large, otherwise empty box.
An Australian mother bought 38 items for her children’s reading list and was shocked when the store delivered them in 23 boxes
One of her photos showed one pack of highlighters standing alone in a large box
Other online shoppers were quick to say that this experience had happened to them too, with one saying they had received a small pack of pencils in a medium-sized box.
“Mate, don’t get me started on this,” they wrote. “The box-to-volume ratio (ratio) is always off these days.”
Some online shoppers said the multiple boxes could be the result of items coming from different warehouses.
However, the woman confirmed that all 38 items came from the same store and had the same delivery stickers.
Others thought this was a result of retailers using artificial intelligence and leaving machines behind to pack orders.
However, an Officeworks spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the delivery was due to a technical glitch at their Perth Customer Fulfillment Centre.
‘We can confirm this was isolated (to central Perth). “We work with our supply chain teams to ensure that the least amount of materials are used when packaging orders,” they said.
‘We’re sorry to hear about this customer’s recent online delivery experience. At Officeworks we want everyone to have an enjoyable shopping experience with us – whether shopping in-store or online – and we’re disappointed that this didn’t happen this time.
‘In addition, at Officeworks we take our impact on the environment very seriously. We have been working on more sustainable packaging solutions for our products for a number of years, and this commitment remains a strong focus across our business.”
Officeworks said this was due to a technical glitch in their Perth Customer Fulfillment Center
According to the latest data from the Australian National Waste Report 2022, Australia has approximately 75.8 million tonnes of waste
Officeworks isn’t the only retailer under fire for excessive packaging and waste.
A Sydney mother slammed Kmart after her bath bomb delivery arrived in a large box with plastic air bags to contain it.
Other shoppers cite Amazon as the culprit for sending out large boxes for one or two small items.
According to the latest data from the Australian National Waste Report 2022, Australia has approximately 75.8 million tonnes of waste.
Accumulate Australia states that the average Australian throws away 130kg of plastic every year, which is equivalent to 20,000 plastic bags, 7,000 plastic water bottles or the weight of three bar fridges.
Disappointingly, only 12.4 percent of all waste is recycled.