This is happening, as anyone who's ordered anything from Outpost (or its parent, Tweeter) or several other mail-order houses (Amazon is using it a lot as well, I think) in the last six months or so can attest.
Foam peanuts weren't biodegradable. Envirofill was either getting eaten or was clogging up toilets from having too much of it flushed down at once. Paper shreds weren't rigid enough. Bubble wrap wasn't always practical. Now, sealed bags of air are the packing material of the day.
Someday, in the not-too-distant future, accountants in mail-order houses around the world will collectively realize: "We are paying for bagged air."
The results will not be pretty.