Fashion for Good, in partnership with C&A and Levi Strauss & Co, have launched a pilot to test alternatives to conventional single-use polybags.
- The six-month project is called Home-Compostable Polybag Project.
- It will use novel bags from Fashion for Good innovators TIPA Corp and Greenhope. These bags are made with 23-25% bio-based material to lessen fossil fuel consumption and are designed to compost in either home or municipal composting environments.
- The project aims to find alternative end-of-use for landfill-bound materials, and to provide an at-home option for consumers who do not have access to municipal composting programmes.
Looking at a Compostable Alternative: An estimated 180 billion polybags are produced every year to store, transport and protect apparel and footwear.
- Their production, use and end-of-use have a significant impact: conventional virgin polybags have a high carbon footprint and low recycling rates across the globe.
- Conventional bags are commonly incinerated, landfilled, or subject to environmental leakage, harming natural systems.
- To change this paradigm, innovation must both find appropriate disposal pathways that are less harmful to the environment and reduce fossil fuel consumption.
- Bio-based polymers, on the other hand. have a lower carbon footprint when compared with fossil fuel-based polymers. These are generated from biological feedstock, such as food crops, organic waste and wood pulp.
- The final compostable plastic blends in this project are derived from a mix of bio-based materials and petroleum feedstocks.
Scaling Innovative Plastics: The project seeks to benchmark the bags against conventional plastics in supply chains, as well as measuring the overall impact and associated costs of the materials.
- The innovative bags include bio-based content, which must be tested against key performance and quality properties, such as transparency, durability and longevity.
- Both technology providers have aligned to leading compostability certification bodies. TIPA Corp. is certified by TÜV Austria OK Compost Home, and Greenhope is undergoing certification for DIN CERTCO Home Compostable. These certifications are according to both the French standard NFT 51-800, and the Australian standard AS 5810.
Working Towards Circularity: The Home-Compostable Polybag Project is the third Fashion for Good polybag project following the Circular Polybag Pilot (completed in 2020) and Reusable Packaging (completed 2021) projects.
- These projects aim to validate innovations that reduce the dependence on virgin fossil fuels, reduce impact of production, and are capable of compostability, avoiding landfill.
The Composting: The compostability refers to the material's ability to disintegrate and biodegrade under specific conditions and time into carbon dioxide, water vapour and microbial biomass capable of supporting plant growth.
- Composting can be tested in two environments — home and industrial. Home compostability can happen in a backyard composting bin and at ambient temperatures, whereas industrial compostability requires higher temperatures (50-60°C) and specific conditions at a large-scale facility.
