Marks & Spencer has announced its transition to paper packaging across its men’s essentials range, anticipated to remove almost 5.5 million units of plastic from its Clothing & Home business over the next 12 months.
All of M&S’ men’s socks, men’s woven pyjama sets and almost 40% of men’s underwear lines are now available in FSC-approved paper packaging with paper hooks, designed to be easily recycled at home. Pending successful trials this year, the retailer plans to roll out the paper packaging to additional products in the men’s essentials range, removing a further 3.5 million units of plastic from its Clothing & Home supply chain.
The retailer claims that 20 million pairs of men’s socks are sold each year. In 2023, M&S successfully trialled paper packaging with paper hooks for men’s and women’s accessories including hats, gloves and scarves, apparently removing over 4 million units of plastic.
Katharine Beacham, head of Sustainability in Clothing & Home at M&S, said: “We know we have a responsibility to do the right thing when it comes to our packaging by reducing unnecessary plastic. It also gives our customers the confidence to make more sustainable choices more easily when they shop with us, and trust that the M&S quality products they love are made, sourced and packaged with care.”
The brand adds that it is committed to reducing plastic packaging as a key part of its Plan A roadmap to reach Net Zero by 2040.
Last year Aquapak collaborated with Maxim and N Brown – the retail platform and owner of JD Williams, Jacamo and Simply Be - to create garment bags from Hydropol, a ‘marine-safe, biodegradable and recyclable’ polymer alternative to traditional plastics. Aquapak says the garment bags can be recycled alongside paper, plastic, metal or food without any risk of contamination.
This month clothing company TOAST teamed up with Kvatt, a start-up seeking to reduce single-use packaging waste in e-commerce, to pilot Kvatt’s reusable packaging solution for UK customers. Through the service, customers’ TOAST items are delivered in a returnable mail bag with instructions. To return the bag, the customer attaches the prepaid label to the back and can drop the empty packaging in any UK post box.
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