Solo New York, one of the biggest bag manufacturers in the world, announced met its goal of eliminating plastic from its packaging by the end of 2020.
Solo established this goal last year, and all packaging for its bags, luggage, laptop cases and tablet sleeves are now 100 percent Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC)-certified recycled, recyclable and biodegradable, including strings and clips of hang-tags.
The project involved the entire Solo team – product design, marketing, operations and finance – working together to determine the best way to eliminate plastic while maintaining Solo’s approachable price ranges.
The FSC is an independent, non-profit organization that establishes standards for responsible forest management. The certification ensures that products come from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic benefits. Solo has received the top level of certification meaning that all paper used in the packaging of its products is recycled.
“For a company of our size – serving millions of customers every year as well as some of the biggest retailers– eliminating plastic from our packaging was no easy task, and we’re extremely proud to have met our goal,” said Serkan Anders, Vice President of Marketing, Solo New York. “We also have a robust program of removing ocean-bound PET bottles from landfills and waterways that we use to make the fabric for our Re:cycled Collection of bags, but ultimately we know that the best environmental move we can make as a company is to not use plastic in the first place.”
The elimination of plastic in packaging is one part of Solo’s broader sustainability plans to reduce the company’s landfill deposit and reduce pollution while making sustainable bags accessible and affordable for a wide audience.
In 2020, Solo received the “Sustainability Initiative of the Year” award from the Business Intelligence Group, and in 2021 received the SEAL “Environmental Initiative Award.” Both awards honor the company’s work on its Re:cycled Collection of bags and overall business sustainability programs.
“Our next major goal is to remove 40 million PET bottles from landfills by 2024, and we’ll keep raising the bar and holding ourselves accountable to meet our sustainability goals,” Anders added. “The truth today is that sustainability isn’t an option for any company that wants to be successful.”
