Recycling company First Mile has partnered with sustainable fashion
innovation platform Fashion for Good to tackle plastic polybag waste in the
fashion industry with a new London-based pilot scheme.
The trial to tackle clothing packaging waste aims to validate a
closed-loop system by testing a key part of the infrastructure in a future
circular system by looking at the issue of plastic polybag waste in the
fashion industry.
These plastic film bags are commonly used to pack, transport and store
items of clothing, before they are displayed in-store, and it is estimated
that 180 billion polybags are produced each year, while less than 15
percent of polybags in circulation are collected for recycling, according
to Fashion For Good.
However, according to research, the recycling of plastic film, from
which polybags are made, poses a challenge due to the wide variety of
different types and colours of film ultimately ‘downgrading’ the material
into lower-value products during its processing.
In contrast, the majority of fashion polybags are made from clear
low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film, offering the potential of a clean and
pure waste stream that can be transformed into high-quality clear film
products again.
First Mile launches Polybag Collection Scheme Pilot in London
The Polybag Collection Scheme Pilot in London, is part of Fashion For
Good’s Plastics Packaging Project and aims to identify and scale potential
solutions to reduce the impact and use of plastic packaging in the
industry, as well as test the ability to develop scalable recycling
infrastructure in one key city region.
The three-month pilot scheme will be supported by Fashion for Good
corporate partners Adidas, Kering, PVH Corp. and Stella McCartney, and will
see First Mile collecting and recycling plastic polybags from retail stores
located in central London.
These polybags will then be transformed into new plastic film products,
closing the loop and dramatically reducing the amount of retail plastic
waste that is simply thrown away, explained First Mile.
First Mile founder and chief executive, Bruce Bratley, said in a
statement: “The spotlight has been well and truly focused on the
sustainability of the fashion industry in recent months, and this is an
area where recycling can make a massive difference.
“There’s an incredible amount of plastic polybag packaging waste that
isn’t currently recycled and will often end up in landfill or being
incinerated. As we all strive towards achieving an efficient circular
economy, maximising the recycling of these polybags is a hugely positive
move.”
Katrin Ley, managing director at Fashion for Good, added: “The fashion
industry needs to tackle polybag packaging waste and work together to make
a closed-loop system a reality. This involves the sector committing to make
current polybags more recyclable, supporting innovation in recycling, but
crucially, focusing on systems for the collection of polybags at all places
that polybag waste is generated.”
At the end of the three-month pilot, Fashion for Good will collate and
analyse data on the viability of separate polybag collection for brands,
and First Mile will report on the recycling outcomes.
Images: courtesy of First Mile/Fashion For Good
