Grundéns, producer fishing apparel and footwear, has announced new eco packaging that is completely compostable and will help reduce the ubiquitous plastic poly bags that have been common in packaging for many years.
Each year, 500 billion plastic bags are used worldwide with only 1 percent of those being recycled. Many of the rest end up in the world’s oceans, where it’s estimated that there will be more plastics than fish by 2050.
“With plastics in the ocean playing a major role in the health of many fisheries around the world, we’re taking the lead in bringing an alternative to poly bags to the market,” said Grundéns CEO David Mellon. “Sustainability is a journey, and we are constantly striving to improve the environmental performance of our own products, packaging, and operations. This new compostable packaging will allow customers to drop it into their own home or municipal compost stream, confident they aren’t adding plastic waste into the environment.”
Grundéns uses 100 percent biodegradable packaging made from a polylactide (PLA) whose raw material is glucose from corn starch. It decomposes in less than a year and can be placed in a household or municipal composting system by cutting it up into strips. All new products shipped in 2021 will be in compostable packaging, while existing inventory will be transitioned to the new packaging in the coming months.
The packaging was produced in six different sizes, ensuring the minimum amount of packaging is used depending on the size of the product being shipped. Is also cuts down on the amount of needless air that is often shipped around the world due to excess packaging.
The packaging project is intended to be open source, with information about the supplier printed on the packaging itself. Grundéns encourages other brands to follow suit and increase the rate at which plastic bags are eliminated from the supply chain. A dedicated sustainability landing page on Grundéns website provides additional information about how Grundéns is living up to its purpose of being a better environmental steward.
Learn more about the packaging and the brand’s sustainability journey here: https://Grundéns.com/sustainability/.
Grundéns also has also begun using Econyl, a fabric made from recycled fishing nets that would otherwise end up in landfill or as “ghost nets” in our oceans. For Spring ‘21, this material is available in two products, the = Sidereal Boardshorts for men, and the Circe Capri for women, part of Grundéns NetSourced collection that will expand in coming seasons.
