The German online retail store for shoes, clothes, and cosmetics, Zalando (Berlin; www.corporate.zalando.com) said it plans to replace plastic shipping bags with kraft paper during the course of this year. A company spokesperson declined to tell Plasteurope.com how much of the 68,000 t of packaging material used last year consisted of plastic bags.

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The goal, however, is to reduce waste, reuse materials, and forego products made of disposable plastics. “Currently, the polybags – used as outer packaging for articles of clothing – account for the largest share of single-use plastic,” the spokesperson said.

Last year, the amount of average plastic packaging per item shipped was 8.1 g. Extrapolated to about 250 mn orders means 2,025 t were used. “We are looking for new solutions to solve the polybag problem,” the company said. “For example, the number of bags can be reduced by half if an item of clothing is folded differently. This enabled us to save 69 t of film last year for our own brands.”

By mid-2022, paper is to also replace plastics as filling material in shipping boxes. The switch from plastic adhesive tape to a paper alternative, originally planned for last year, was delayed due to the slow supply situation and is now to take place this year. This means that cardboard boxes and the adhesive tape can be disposed of in the same paper bin, Zalando explained.

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The German company said it increased its revenue by almost 30% to EUR 10.4 bn in 2021. With a margin of 4.5%, adjusted EBIT was EUR 468.4 mn. Four more logistics centres are to be added to the current 12 in 7 countries by 2023; investments of EUR 400 mn to EUR 500 mn have been planned for the same.