Plastic’s Out of Fashion: Online fashion retailers set to deliver 21.8 billion plastic bags by 2030
Online fashion retailers delivered 2.9 billion plastic bags to European shoppers in six leading markets last year alone, equating to 7.8 million bags every day, widening the gap between high-street and online retail in efforts to move away from plastic bags.
Several European countries have introduced legislation to cut plastic bag use on high streets – such as the UK Plastic Bag Levy in 2015 - but as shoppers migrated online, ecommerce plastic bag use has continued to increase. Analysis by Development Economics, commissioned by sustainable packaging company DS Smith, an International Paper company, reveals that the UK is now the largest individual market for ecommerce plastic delivery bags amongst large European economies. Last year, the UK was estimated to have used 150 million more plastic bags than Germany, which came in second.
The research estimates that the number of bags in use is set to increase by 47% between now and 2030, in line with the expected growth in online fashion sales. This means by 2030, 4.2 billion plastic delivery bags will be arriving on European doorsteps each year, adding up to 21.8 billion bags in the next five years.
Only 7% of the fashion ecommerce bags delivered in the six markets are currently being reused or recycled, while the remaining 93% end up in landfill or incineration, equating to 2.6 billion bags just last year. The growth in ecommerce and slow progress on increasing recycling rates mean by 2030, over 3.8 billion plastic bags will end up in landfill or burned annually.
74%
of European shoppers think that plastic should be phased out for online shopping
73,8%
of shoppers prefer their online clothing & accessories packaged in paper or cardboard
How can we help you?
With over half of European shoppers more likely to order from an online retailer that uses easily recyclable packaging, rather than plastic, the opportunity to meet consumer demand for more sustainable fashion packaging is evidently significant – both for the planet and your business.
We can help you solve your challenges and find solutions for ‘single-use’ and ‘hard-to-recycle’ packaging. Our ground-breaking Circular Design Metrics make it easy to compare the sustainability performance of different packaging designs across eight key indicators.
We have already created over 1,000 designs for millions of products geared towards reducing the use of plastics and we are 100% dedicated to helping find an innovation solution that is right for you.
“Switching from plastic to paper shipping bags has been a game-changer. After introducing our first paper bags, customer satisfaction with our new packaging surged by 16ppt year over year. The high acceptance rate makes us confident that we are on the right track with paper bags that are easy to recycle in the vast majority of Europe.” David Fischer, Director Logistics Sustainability and Packaging at Zalando
Brands like Zalando have proved change is possible, but our industry needs to step up to provide fibre-based alternatives. Sticking with plastic comes at a cost – consumers don’t want it, and brands risk their reputation by ignoring that.
