RS environmentally friendly packaging? hmmm, no.

[mcinque]

Chinese boxes for a small bottle of varnish laquer for dipping transformers. I don't understand why they waste all this paper and plastic for an object like that.
Maybe it's because it's a dangerous substance and if the package leak some fluid they could be responsible?

[rdl]

There are many restrictions and special packaging requirements for hazardous materials. UN 1263 is Flammable Liquid.

[mcinque]

Ok, so that kind of package is required?

[SeanB]

Try to send a 10ml spray can by air....... You need a separate box per product, with the box being overwrapped in a sealed plastic with an outer protective box. Send 5 or more and you need to buy a once use ( because you probably will never get it back from the other end) "blast proof box", which is no more than a thin metal box with an inner liner. Our poor customer, he got done over really badly by customs as well.

Next lot went by overland courier, going via around 8 countries to get to him.

[mcinque]

@RDL: Even if it's UN 1263 (flammable liquid), I ordered some months ago 500ml isopropyl alcohol from RS and have received it in a common box. 

[rdl]

It would be useless to speculate as to whether the shipment to you of "isopropyl alcohol" was legal. Possibly it was diluted or maybe they made certain it was shipped by ground transport and not by air. Maybe they made a potentially expensive mistake. Whatever.

If you wish to know more on this subject just google: IATA regulations hazardous materials. Or for US rules (which many other countries follow): 47 CFR shipping hazardous materials.

The rules are very explicit and detailed. The penalties for non-compliance are large. Many companies will simply refuse to ship hazardous materials by air. However shipping by ground is much less restrictive than by air.

[poorchava]

RS generally suck when it comes to packaging. For example if I order 50lcs of opamp they will send each in separate baggie. If I had to give that to assembly house they would probably ROTFL and charge a huge extra.

Sent from my HTC One M8s using Tapatalk

[mcinque]

It's true but they often allow you order the same component with a packaging for production, do you have that option available in your cart?

[ciccio]

Looking at the OP photo I see from the label that  it was delivered by SDA, so it was coming from the Italian warehouse by ground shipment, and not from one of the UK warehouses by air.
Maybe RS applies the packaging rules for air transport also to ground delivery?
Once I had a delivery from another supplier (Distrelec, who usually ships in less than one day by DHL air) delayed two or three days: it came with ground shipment from Zurich because somebody put a sticker saying it contained a lithium battery, that was not there (it was the standard 9V alkaline battery inside an UNI-T multimeter).

Best  regards

 

[mcinque]

Exactly, ciccio, SDA shipment from Italy to Italy, with ground shipping.

My guess is that the original small box came to Italy by air, and when in Italy someone has simply repackaged it inside another big one.

And same you described with Distrelec happened to me: same lithium sticker, same delay. But sometimes DMMs have a lithum backup battery inside other than the standard alkaline, so they put the sticker anyway.

[Tandy]

You can not be sure that a package will not travel by Air. If you sent a package from London to Edinburgh in the UK, chances are it will take part of its journey by air even though the UK is a small place.

[rdl]

In the US, you don't have to package hazardous materials for air transport if you don't request shipment by air. This makes sense because the special packaging can add a lot of cost. However it does have to be packaged as required by the requested shipping method, and when shipping a hazardous material by any means you have to declare exactly which hazard class it is so that the shipping company is aware of how they have to handle it.