Packaging weight calculator for EPR
Packaging registers ask for kilograms per material. Enter the dimensions of a box or mailing bag to estimate its weight, then multiply by the parcels you shipped.
500 is close to the 2024 German industry average for corrugated board (501 g/m², VDW). Double-wall board is heavier. Use your supplier's figure if you have it.
This estimates one component from its dimensions and can be off by a few percent. It does not file anything and it is not a substitute for weighing. For the full method, including product packaging and grouping by destination country, read how to calculate packaging weight for EPR from Shopify order data. Diesen Rechner auf Deutsch öffnen.
Questions
Can I declare an estimated packaging weight?
An estimate with a written basis is easier to defend than a number nobody can trace. Weigh the item when you can. When you cannot, for example for stock that already shipped, keep the dimensions and the figures you used next to the result. This calculator prints that basis under every result.
How is the weight of a cardboard box calculated?
A standard shipping carton (a regular slotted box) is cut from one flat sheet. Nominally the sheet is 2 × length + 2 × width + a 35 mm glue flap long, and height + width wide, because the top and bottom flaps are each half the width deep. Multiply that area in square metres by the board weight in grams per square metre. A real sheet differs from that by a few percent, because scoring allowances and flap sizes vary with the board and the maker.
What board weight should I use?
Use the figure on your supplier's spec sheet if you have one. The default of 500 g/m² is close to the 2024 German industry average across all corrugated board, 501 g/m², published by the Verband der Wellpappen-Industrie. Double-wall board is heavier than that.
How is the weight of a plastic mailing bag calculated?
A flat bag is two layers of film, plus one more layer for the closure flap: (2 × length + flap) × width × film thickness × density. Low-density polyethylene film is about 0.92 g/cm³, and 60 microns is a common thickness for mailing bags. The adhesive strip is not included.
Do I multiply by orders or by units sold?
The outer parcel is multiplied by parcels shipped, not by units sold. An order with four items in one box used one box. Packaging that travels with each item, such as a bag around every product, is multiplied by units sold.
Does this include tape, labels and filler?
No. Each is its own component, usually a different weight and sometimes a different material. Weigh them and add them as separate lines.
Do this for a whole store, from the order export
Assuro reads a Shopify order export in your browser, counts units per product and parcels per country, and multiplies them by your packaging profiles. You get kilograms per material for each country, with a record of where every figure came from. Only the totals per product leave your browser. Customer names and addresses are not uploaded.
Check your store