Zalando wants to become the leading platform for sustainable fashion in Europe. Packaging plays an important role in this. At the Delivery Days, Zalando manager Uwe Streiber revealed how the Berlin-based fashion mail order company is looking for the perfect packaging portfolio.
For Zalando's customers, sustainability is more than just a "nice to have" topic: according to a survey conducted in 2019, environmentally friendly packaging and the reduction of plastic are among the three most important sustainability factors.
Dispensing with single-use plastic in three years
In 2018, Zalando consumed 34,000 tonnes of packaging material, in 2019 it was already more than 44,000 tonnes of packaging material. 91 percent of this came from renewable sources. By 2023, the fashion mail order company wants to make all of its packaging sustainable and completely dispense with single-use plastic. However, Zalando's Packaging Manager Uwe Streiber must not lose sight of a conflicting goal: The packaging must continue to be safe - and with a brand like Zalando, a good style is also a must.
Around 18 per cent of Zalando's CO2 output is currently caused by the production and transport of packaging materials, including, for example, replacement boxes for reshipping returns. Zalando maintains a separate site where only returns and B goods are processed.
120 different packaging products in use
Zalando works closely with 30 suppliers to design its packaging and currently has around 120 different packaging products in use. Initially, the company took a very engineering-driven approach to development and economised on material thicknesses. But the customer has to play along.
Streiber says: "We can develop quietly in our own little room, but if the customer doesn't want it, it's no use." This applies, for example, to the polybags that Zalando often uses for shipping: robust, inexpensive, but highly controversial among customers. A pilot project is now underway together with technology partner RePack, in which a reusable shipping bag is being used that can be used up to 20 times.
Paper instead of ziplock bags
Zalando has now switched from a transparent plastic bag with a zip fastener to a padded paper envelope for the so-called beauty bags in which Zalando sends cosmetics. The highlight: the padding is also made of 3D-embossed paper.
However, for Streiber, sustainability is not just limited to the material, but also to the processes surrounding it. Zalando is focussing on automation in this context. For example, a camera-based system that automatically finds the optimum carton size for the goods is currently being tested.
The focus for the future is on polymer-based materials that can completely replace disposable plastic - without any disadvantages in terms of logistics. This is especially true at peak times. Zalando gained 840,000 new customers during Cyber Week 2019 - and even more in 2020, the year of the pandemic. Nothing can go wrong with sustainability.
Source: Delivery Days
