Online retailer Zalando is focussing on greater sustainability: the company is currently switching its shipping bags to paper and replacing the previous white shipping boxes with brown ones. Packaging with a grass content is also being tested.
While the previous bags were made of plastic with 80 per cent recycled content, the new mailing bags are made of FSC-certified and recyclable paper manufactured. The bags have already been tested in a three-month pilot project in Sweden. Zalando plans to gradually introduce the mailing bags in all 20 markets in which the company is active.
In addition, the previous white shipping boxes are now being replaced by brown boxes replaced. They are still made from 100 per cent recycled cardboard, but the previous recycled paper on the boxes has been dispensed with. This standardises the Appearance and feel of the boxes with the new paper bags.
Zalando: Switching to more sustainability
The aim is to switch completely to paper bags by the end of the first quarter of 2022. This is in line with the company's stated goal of eliminating single-use plastic in packaging by 2023.
"We are constantly on the lookout for other, more sustainable materials and ways to make our packaging fit for circular systems. That's why we want to develop new packaging that provides the best possible protection for our products during transport and at the same time fulfils our sustainability requirements. We are currently testing Packaging made from 30 per cent grass for products in our pre-owned category. And we are working with our teams on what reusable packaging could look like in the future." Masood Choudhry, Vice President Logistics at Zalando
According to the company, it was already able to reduce the amount of single-use plastic in packaging per item shipped by 22 per cent to an average of 7.8 grams in 2020. In total, the mail-order retailer used 53,000 tonnes of packaging material last year, of which 87 percent came from recycled materials and 99 percent was recyclable, according to Zalando.
SourceZalando
