Sustainable Alternatives to Clear Poly Bags

Guide to Sustainable Inner Packaging

EcoEnclose inner packaging solutions separate your goods, provide protection in transit, and present your products beautifully.

Poly Bags with Seal

Protect items from dust, dirt, moisture, and scratching. Adhesive closure. Available with suffocation warning. 100% post-industrial waste.

Available in 7 sizes

Ready to ship  |  Min. 200 units
Customizable  |  Request a quote

Poly Bags with Zipper

Protect items from dust, dirt, moisture, and scratching. Zipper closure. Available with suffocation warning. 100% post-consumer waste.

Available in 5 sizes

Ready to ship  |  Min. 200 units
Customizable  |  Request a quote

Glassine Bags

Curbside recyclable alternative to a clear poly bag. Translucent with a resealable adhesive strip. FSC® certified virgin paper.

Available in 7 sizes

Ready to ship  |  Min. 25 units
Customizable  |  Min. 500 units

Kraft Bags

Curbside recyclable alternative to a clear poly bag. Acid-free paper, open-top construction. 100% recycled, 90% post-consumer waste.

Available in 3 sizes

Ready to ship  |  Min. 25 units
Customizable  |  Min. 500 units

Kraft Bag & Seals

Curbside recyclable alternative to a clear poly bag. Neutral pH paper with a self-seal closure. 100% recycled, 60% post-consumer waste.

Available in 4 sizes

Ready to ship  |  Min. 25 units
Customizable  |  Min. 500 units

EcoBand Wrap

Curbside recyclable alternative to a clear poly bag. 80# Kraft paper keeps goods secure. 100% recycled, 30% post-consumer waste.

Available in 3 sizes

Ready to ship  |  Min. 200 units
Customizable  |  Min. 200 units

Tissue Paper

FSC® certified paper provides light protection and protects against scuffing and dust. 100% recycled, 20% post-consumer waste.

Available in 1 size and 2 colors

Ready to ship  |  Min. 480 units
Customizable  |  Min. 4,800 units

Packing Paper

Provides blocking and bracing in a shipping box and light protection when wrapped around products. 100% recycled, 30% post-consumer waste.

Available in 2 types

Ready to ship  |  Min. 1 unit

Hemp Twine

Wrap products in Packing Paper and tie with twine to give a unique and earthy presentation. 100% renewable hemp.

Available in 2 sizes

Ready to ship  |  Min. 1 unit

Long Read: Guide to Choosing the Right Poly Bag Alternative

Download This Guide Here

Table of Contents

• Where to Begin
• Packaging Functional and Sustainability Scorecard
• Choose Solutions That Fit Your Supply Chain
• Solutions by Logistics Model and Sustainability Goals
• Testing and Implementation
• Sustainability Considerations
• Avoid These Materials to Prevent Greenwashing
• Reducing Plastic Waste in Your Supply Chain: Creative Options
• Communicating Your Sustainability Changes and Choices to Consumers
• Conclusion
• Work With Us!
• Helpful Resources

Many apparel brands we work with have begun the process of rethinking and replacing the ubiquitous virgin polybag - the clear, thin-film plastic bag that protects virtually all apparel from damage, moisture, and dirt. In recent years, consumers have expressed growing disappointment with the amount of plastic packaging that arrives in their eCommerce orders. Brands have responded by launching internal initiatives to reduce single-use plastic packaging, and in some cases, joining larger coalitions (like prAna’s Responsible Packaging Movement) with the same goal.

While the impact of packaging typically makes up a very low percentage of a piece of apparel’s overall environmental and carbon footprint (usually < 5-7%,) it has become the first impression for consumers of a brand’s overall sustainability strategy.

We are major proponents of improving the sustainability of your packaging suite, but we also recognize the massive undertaking this often entails: how do you shift an entire system from one material to another? How do we ensure our products and customers don’t pay the price of making strides toward better product sustainability?

In our experience, the type and scope of inner packaging that an apparel brand can adopt can be best determined by considering the following three factors for your brand, in order of priority:

1. Your Logistics Model
2. Your Functional Packaging Requirements
3. Your Sustainability Framework and Goals

Brands often begin this process with the opposite approach - thinking about the packaging solution they want to use, and trying to fit that packaging solution into their supply chain.

Our recommended approach solves for three critical realities of your business first- the way your product supply chain is laid out; the functional needs that your packaging must align with; and the framework of sustainability goals most important to your company. Then select your potential solutions and begin testing.

Removing the polybag entirely can be challenging and can feel like a time-intensive priority to tackle.

Here we share the existing and upcoming product alternatives on the market, sustainability considerations, best practices for phasing out and replacing polybags, and strategies to reduce the overall amount of single-use plastic (used and wasted) in your supply chain. We hope this guide can provide you with a starting point for how to tackle the puzzle of inner packaging in the apparel and soft goods world.

Where Do I Begin?

When it comes to finding and implementing sustainable packaging - there are no silver bullets that will be applicable and appropriate for every situation. We encourage brands to bring patience, grace, and understanding to the table whenever they begin a new project or initiative to implement a sustainable packaging suite. It will take time, testing, iterating, and lots of learning to get to the finish line - and that’s normal!

As we learn more and more about materials’ life cycle footprints, and as technology and products evolve, we can expect things to change again and again. At EcoEnclose, we often remind ourselves and our customers to focus on progress over perfection.

Jumping into the world of alternative polybag products on the market can be overwhelming if you don’t clearly understand your goals for phasing polybags out (short and long term) and the functional needs of your packaging.

Some questions we pose to help narrow this down are:

Does the packaging need to be:

• Waterproof?
• Transparent or translucent?
• Covering the entire product (full-coverage protection)?
• Dust and dirt proof?
• Tamper evident?
• Flat packing compatible/lays flat?
• Compatible with conveyor belt systems/distribution machinery?

Can your finished and packed apparel:

• Be rolled? I.e. roll packing / tied with hemp or raffia twine/burrito wrapped?
• Be folded differently to reduce the size of packaging needed?
• Be packed without individual polybags, but roll-packed and added to a master carton with a master polybag? (i.e. for shipments sent to retail locations.)
• Use different materials based on the segment of apparel (polybags for white or delicate items, paper bands for remaining apparel?)

What are your needs for:

• Packing speeds?
• Per unit costs?
• Custom branding?

What is your sustainability framework or clear environmental goals?

• Low carbon footprint?
• Curbside recyclable packaging?
• Plastic-free?
• Circular - made with recycled content?

Once you have answers to these prompts, take a look at Matrix 1: Packaging Functional and Sustainability Scorecard to see which options may fit your needs.

Packaging Functional and Sustainability Scorecard

* The vast majority of distribution and production conveyor belt systems favor the use of plastic over paper materials - simply because the flexibility of plastic reduces the likelihood of damage to the apparel packed inside as it drops, tumbles, and moves through the system. More brands have begun testing paper alternatives, like glassine and kraft bags, in these same systems - we don’t yet have definitive data on the performance of these options in terms of damage rates, but can estimate that they are likely higher than damage rates for polybags.

** Tissue paper is recyclable in about 50% of municipalities. For Raffia, cloth, and when tissue is not recyclable - those materials can be home composted as long as they are not dyed or heavily printed.

⊿ Typically, cotton wraps or bags are not made with recycled textile fibers. If you can source recycled textile material from a transparent and certified supply chain, awesome!

Similarly, recycling textiles can be tricky- it’s hard to verify a quality designated and responsible downstream use or recycler for many textile recycling streams at present. While we are very excited about emerging reusable packaging options, we do not necessarily see them as the best ecological option in many situations. Research published in 2021 from Fashion For Good shows how thoughtful we need to be here.

For example, considering reusable mailers versus single-use mailers, when measuring impact by carbon emissions, a reusable package will be less sustainable (even if returned 100% of the time) than a 100% recycled poly mailer used twice. The material and carbon footprint to create a reusable mailer - like a polyester - is significantly higher than the footprint to make a single or double-use disposable mailer.

Choose Solutions That Fit Your Supply Chain

It's important to use your logistics model as the foundation for your decision-making for packaging procurement - doing so ensures that whatever new solution you choose will be applicable and immediately adoptable by your supply chain and partners. We recognize that there are many kinds of logistics models for apparel and consumer goods brands, and each different model presents unique benefits and challenges.

For example, the creation of apparel for a small brand or Etsy shop owner has a relatively small footprint in terms of the location it’s produced, readied for shipment, and sent to customers. Many times, it occurs almost entirely in one location.

Compare this to a multi-national or global brand, who utilizes finished goods factories and contract manufacturing facilities in many different countries and even continents. Possibly, they own a portion of their manufacturing or distribution locations. They likely also utilize several distribution centers (DCs) in multiple locations, which pick and pack customer orders and ship them out. In many cases, these large supply chains utilize a variety of automated machinery and fulfillment processes, not to mention much more movement of goods along mechanical lines and conveyor belts. This brand has many more variables to consider in a massive overhaul of packaging than others.

Still, the majority of brands are somewhere in the middle - they use partners for either one or both of their manufacturing and distribution aspects, allowing them to focus internal investments on brand strategy and growth. These brands have less direct control over the production, packing, shipping, and fulfillment of their products and customer orders, but work closely with their partners to test new packaging and processes.

Solutions by Logistics Model and Sustainability Goals

Plastic-Free eCommerce Packaging

Carbon Footprint Reduction

Applicable to all logistics models.

Reducing Overall Plastic Footprint

Materials Circularity

Made from recycled content and readily recyclable.

Testing and Implementation

Implementing new packaging into your supply chain is a process! Expect to test, test, and test again before switching fully over to a new supplier or packaging product. Many brands we work with plan the process of implementing a polybag replacement over 6 months to several years. The more variables in your supply chain, the longer the transition will take. That is normal. Work with a packaging partner to help you stay on track and determine what success looks like.

We recommend:

• Inquire with your upstream partners to learn if there are existing initiatives to move out the polybag in the factories where your products are produced, or distribution centers your orders ship from. If so, you may be able to collaborate with other brands for a larger sample set and faster data collection.

• Run ship and fulfillment tests - lots of them - before transitioning to a large volume of new packaging. Measure the amount of damage to products, poor appearance, and successful shipments. Make sure to test multiple product types - small apparel, standard size, large apparel, and bulky options - to get a good understanding of performance across your product suite.

• Start with a pilot and then build momentum. This can take the form of a segmented approach, where you use a new product for only a portion of your products, test and review, then move to other SKU families. For example, for brands switching from poly mailers to paper mailers, we often recommend switching the smaller sizes of mailers first - they are often the most similar in fulfillment speeds and processes to the existing mailers.

Sustainability Considerations

The least sustainable packaging strategy is the one that results in damaged or unusable products. With any transition in packaging, we always recommend performing the due diligence of material and ship testing new materials to learn how well they work for your needs.

Circularity and Recycled Content

At EcoEnclose, our mission is to make eCommerce a more regenerative, positive force for the environment. For us, that means pushing for total packaging circularity: using as much recycled content (specifically post-consumer waste) as possible, and creating products that can be recycled within an existing infrastructure.

While we detail several products in this guide, some of which perform better than others in various logistics models, we are always advocates of using as much recycled content as possible in packaging for any given scenario and encourage you to source the highest levels of recycled content in your packaging wherever you procure it.

Shop Local

Sourcing packaging in locations that are geographically close to your finished goods factory or production location is another easy way to reduce the overall carbon footprint of your packaging procurement.

Determine What Plastics are Necessary and Which are Not.

While plastics can be a superhero for thousands of applications, they are also major contributors to litter, ocean pollution, and landfill space. Even still, plastics are an incredible material, and we recognize that few materials boast as many functional benefits. In the plastic realm, we have found great guidance from referencing the US Plastics Pact’s Problematic or Unnecessary Plastics decision tree.

Avoid These Materials To Prevent Greenwashing

Some materials are, without question, better than others regarding overall sustainability “score.” Be sure that the new packaging materials and products you choose are, in fact, better than your current packaging.

We often hear of brands that choose to go plastic-free and, in doing so, choose to use paper packaging with unknown sources of origin that could be drawing from ancient and endangered forests or opt for PLA bioplastic—both of which we have chosen not to offer as products because of their degrading impact on the environment and waste management systems.

Some of the materials we stay away from using in eCommerce packaging include:

• Virgin Plastics

• Virgin tree-based paper, paperboard, or cardboard, when recycled fibers could (functionally) perform well.

• When the strength provided by longer fibers in virgin paper is needed (as it is with glassine bags), we avoid any virgin paper without verification that it does not pull from ancient and endangered forests. Opt for FSC® certified paper from responsibly managed forests instead, and if FSC® is not feasible, thoroughly vet sources of origin.

• Bioplastics made through conventionally produced, land-based monocrop farming. For example, we say no to bioplastics derived from conventional corn, cassava, potatoes, and sugarcane.

• Plastics with biodegradability additives, particularly additives solely designed to accelerate landfill biodegradation

• Oxo Biodegradable plastics

• Dissolvable plastics - these are unlikely to deliver on your functional needs, are more linear than 100% recycled plastic film, and, at high volumes, wreak havoc on wastewater treatment.

*Note: EcoEnclose is a policyholder for Canopy’s Pack4Good initiative, where we commit to not using tree-based fibers for packaging that are sourced from ancient or endangered forests. We highly recommend using Canopy’s Paper Steps.

Bioplastics in eCommerce

Bioplastic is an umbrella term for packaging either 1.) made from bio-based sources (like plants), or 2.) able to biodegrade (to industry standards) in a home or industrial compost environment, or both.

Examples are PLA Shipping Mailers and PLA Clear Poly Bags, Corn Starch Packing Peanuts, Oxo-biodegradable plastics, and plastics with biodegradable additives.

Some bioplastics should be avoided in general. We believe corn-based bioplastics are an example of this.

PLA is the most popular and cheapest bioplastic in the world today. It is made with industrial corn - a crop that wreaks havoc on waterways and soils and relies heavily on fossil fuels to produce. Additionally, only 4% of Americans have access to industrial compost streams or facilities in their locales, so this packaging is frequently incorrectly recycled (also known as wish-cycled) or landfilled - where it breaks down over time to create methane pollution.

Most of these bioplastics do not break down if leaked into the natural environment as litter, so they do not solve our ocean plastic crisis. Finally, even when Americans can compost their eCommerce packaging, their local composters do not want low-value inputs that degrade their compost, making selling more difficult.

However, a small subset of emerging bioplastics poses environmental promises—such as seaweed-based films, certified sustainably grown sugarcane-based plastic, and plastic derived from food or ag waste.

EcoEnclose continuously searches for the most environmentally promising bioplastic options being developed today while actively rejecting solutions whose source inputs are likely to harm the planet. We have seen that bioplastic polybags and mailers chosen without regard to the material’s source inputs are a top contributor to greenwashing in eCommerce packaging.

Learn more in these resources:

• Bioplastics and Dissolvable Plastics for eCommerce Packaging

• Don't Replace Plastic with Corn: Lessons from Ethanol
• We Could Sell You This Biodegradable Poly Mailer, But We Won't
• Quick Guide To Responsible Composting
• Compostable Does Not Mean Naturally Biodegradable
• Compostable Bioplastics Do Not Prevent Marine Plastic Pollution

Reducing Plastic Waste in Your Supply Chain: Creative Options

There are many (and more every day) creative solutions that brands have utilized to reduce the overall plastic footprint of their supply chain and to divert necessary plastics from the landfill. A few to note are:

• Streamlining collection of polybags at your DCs and finished goods factories, and recycling them properly with a waste management recycling partner, or through EcoEnclose’s poly takeback program.

• If roll-packing with paper bands, raffia, or hemp ties is feasible for you, these rolled pieces can be packed into a master carton, and protected in bulk with one large plastic bag lining the box. This is especially applicable for shipments going to brick-and-mortar retail channels. Some brands find that they can pack higher volumes of apparel into master cartons when it’s rolled, versus packed and stacked flat.

• Down-gauging the thickness of plastic being used, both polybags and poly mailers. By moving from a 3.0 mil to 1.5 mil, you can halve the gross volume of plastic used for your packaging.

• Try folding your apparel into a smaller footprint, to allow you to use a smaller polybag and reduce the amount of plastic needed at the source.

• Offering customers the chance to choose, at checkout, whether they would like plastic packaging or paper packaging. For customers and brands who are committed to removing the polybag from shipments, you may be able to instruct your DC or 3PL to unpack each item from its polybag before sending it in its secondary (shipping) packaging. In this case, the 3PL can then streamline the collection of polybags, and ensure their responsible recycling. Keep in mind that this added step of unpacking will add time to the fulfillment process - assess whether this is feasible for your budget and throughput goals.

Communicating Your Sustainability Changes and Choices to Consumers

No matter what packaging you opt to transition to and include in your fulfillment, make sure you make an effort to communicate this change to your customers. This will clue them in to your thoughtfulness, variables in your supply chain, and your overall sustainability framework for packaging. According to Shopify's 2021 Future of Ecommerce report, 73% of consumers are more likely to buy a product packaged sustainably. Many will also pay a premium.

Include communication to your customers about your packaging decisions, your reasoning, and your choice of material. Be sure to include the proper disposal instructions for the packaging, as well - how to recycle, reuse, or bring to a thin-film drop-off recycling stream.

You can communicate this information through custom printing your packaging directly, adding in an insert or notecard, or including these details on your website and social media presence.

Example:

Before reaching you, this product traveled through our supply chain and multiple continents! To keep it in great condition for your first impression, we chose to use this polybag for the ultimate protection. It’s made with 100% recycled content (PIR). Please either reuse this bag or recycle it in thin-film recycling streams - found at most grocery and big-box stores.

We’re on our way to plastic-free packaging! To do so, we’re testing out these glassine/kraft bags instead of a typical plastic polybag. Please give us quick feedback (via a QR code/website) on how this arrived, and your satisfaction with this shipment!

Conclusion

Assessing and evolving your internal packaging products can be a massive undertaking and one that more brands than ever are taking on. Rest assured that it is possible to make improvements in supply chain sustainability, no matter your specific logistics style or product set.

We highly recommend working with a packaging partner, like EcoEnclose, when confronting these new initiatives. They can provide you with expertise gathered from conversations with hundreds of brands like yours, and give you feedback on your testing and implementation processes.

Work With Us!

We always want to partner with conscious brands, and those navigating the nuance of transitioning to sustainable packaging throughout their supply chain. We would be thrilled to work with you. Contact us and learn more at:

hello@ecoenclose.com // 888-445-6575 // www.ecoenclose.com // @ecoenclose

Helpful Resources:

• EcoEnclose Guide: Transitioning from Poly to Paper Packaging
• EcoEnclose Guide: Moving your Fulfillment Center to a Sustainable Packaging Strategy
• US Plastics Pact: Problematic and Unnecessary Materials List
• Fashion For Good - Polybags in the Fashion Industry Evaluating the Options
• Ellen MacArthur Foundation: The New Plastics Economy
• prAna's Responsible Packaging Movement
• Patagonia's Plastic Packaging: A Study on the Challenges of Garment Delivery
• Canopy's Paper Steps
• Canopy Pack4Good

Product Links:

• 100% Recycled Poly Bags
• 100% Recycled Kraft Bags
• Glassine Bags
• EcoBand Paper Wrap
• 100% Recycled Tissue Paper
• Packaging Paper (burrito wrap)
• Hemp Twine