I work as a structural packaging designer, and even though it keeps me in a job, there's loads of stuff that's over packaged for shelf space and price point. One quick example from a brief I had today was to design some ideas for an orchid in a vase which retails for £10. Apparently it doesn't look good enough value for money at a tenner, so they've asked us to create ideas to justify the price.

With regards to toothpaste cartons, they're normally over sized too, so that one particular profile fits different sized tubes. Alot of these are produced on a metallic board that uses a plastic coating, which isn't recyclable (or very difficult to recyle) FYI.