Inside Retail’s Plastic Problem — and Efforts to Fix It

Retail is littered with plastic: polybags, pallet wraps, films, mailers, hangers, bags, tags and more.

While many of fashion's retailers are making strides toward greater sustainability, the plastic problem persists. Most plastic is made from petrochemicals, and production relies on carbon-intensive fossil fuel industries. Polybags, for example — the thin, lightweight, often low-density polyethylene plastic sheath (they are labeled as number four plastic for sorting in recycling centers) that encases clothing items — are still widely used throughout much of the industry. Retailers use them in fulfillment centers, to protect clothes from water damage, snagging and other unknowns and require them during distribution, shipping and transit between brand vendors, and eventually, to shoppers.

It's a cycle that contributes to fashion's waste problem.

In the U.S., 100 billion single-use plastic shopping bags are used each year, according to the International Trade Commission. If there's a polybag for every piece of the 100 billion clothing items produced annually, per McKinsey & Co. estimates from its "Style That's Sustainable: A New Fast Fashion Formula" report, then there are billions of plastic polybags used every year. On top of that, there are billions of hangers discarded every year and miles and miles of plastic films used.

On top of plastic used throughout the retailing and distribution process, brands have historically used bags as a form of marketing material, noted Jane Hali, chief executive officer of retail and brand investment research firm Jane Hali & Associates LLC.

"Bloomingdale's in the ’70s were known for their [paper] shopping bags with faces on them," Hali said. "Now, Macy's gives you a plastic bag [depending on the state], but Bloomingdale's never gave you a plastic bag. Plastic always meant less expensive."

Hali said changes today are motivated by consumers, status and, lately, government laws. And plastic sends a message, Hali said, one that does not resonate with young shoppers. "If you’re targeting a Gen Z customer, it's pretty offensive," she contended.

But there is no clear way to eliminate plastic from the retail system, Sujoy Biswas, associate partner in management consulting firm Kearney's industrial redesign division, PERLab, noted.

"It may not be possible to outright eliminate the use of polybags in the near term," said Biswas. "The barriers, protection, cost and convenience that these polybags provide in a cost-effective way are hard to replicate today. Films and bags will remain critical components of growing economies around the world."

For plastic solutions to work, both retailers and the brands that sell with them need to get on board. And some companies have found that retail requirements don't match up with their brand sustainability commitments.

Etica denim, which makes premium sustainable denim goods including vintage-style jeans, uses biodegradable polybags when shipping orders to retailers to avoid a "crisis of conscience," said Michelle Marsh, creative director.

"Every major retailer requires individual bagging, there is simply no way around it," Marsh said. Etica is stocked at Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Revolve and Faherty. "Having our biodegradable solution in hand from the start allowed us to handle this without crisis of conscience."

Marsh added that department stores also require brands to purchase and ship on plastic hangers. "This is in conflict with our brand ethos, and highlights the fact that we cannot truly accomplish our sustainability goals alone. We need cooperation from our suppliers, our retailers and our consumers. Finding a solution that works for all will be a big step forward for the industry," she said.

Vintage dealer Alessandra Canario said partnering with Free People required her to comply with vendor branding for shipments, something which is commonplace for marketplaces.

"Because it's corporate, [Free People] had to approve my shipping. Usually, what I would do is reuse the shipping containers that were sent to me because it has to be unified." To work with Free People, she had to buy the brand's colored packaging to comply, though she admits she doesn't recycle the mailers.

Canario, who describes herself as "pretty radical" and said she "won't wear anything modern at all except underwear," runs Ally Bird Vintage, which has been carried under Free People's Rose Bowl Flea Market concept.

Nordstrom is one of the retailers sorting through how to handle plastic waste.

In spring 2022, the company replaced Nordstrom Rack plastic shopping bags with paper bags, said Liz Lipton-McCombie, head of corporate social responsibility at Nordstrom Inc. The effort was part of the retailer's goal to reduce single-use plastic in its value chain by 50 percent, she said.

"By transitioning to paper bags, we made enormous progress on our goal with an 853-ton reduction in plastic use. In addition, we’ve sourced half of the new bags from a domestic supplier, reducing associated carbon emissions. This phasing out has occurred in all 241 and counting Nordstrom Rack stores and will be the standard in new locations moving forward. We are continuing to look at more sustainable alternatives across the business."

This is in line with Nordstrom's 2025 goals, which include giving $1 million in corporate grants for industry textile recycling efforts and helping extend the life of 250 tons of clothing through donation and re-commerce.

Nordstrom has also been working to recycle more beauty products through its BeautyCycle program, which started in 2020. To date, Nordstrom has reported 25 tons of beauty products recycled through the program, which is run by TerraCycle.

Nordstrom's goal is to recycle 100 tons by 2025, the company has said. Tubes, caps, jars and mascara wands are all accepted.

Lipton-McCombie said Nordstrom employees and customers are eager to help in plastic reduction efforts, and employees receive special training on packaging reduction efforts. Nordstrom also has a hanger reuptake program designed to reuse and recycle hangers to minimize plastic waste and repairs, donates used mannequins to local organizations for reuse and offers compostable food to-go containers at its restaurants.

Though widespread efforts are underway to reduce plastic use across much of the business, Nordstrom is one of many retailers that still rely on polybags, and brands that sell with the retailer are required to send in items in individual bags.

"Clear polybags are needed to protect items from damage during shipment and ensure that they can be easily picked and sorted in our order fulfillment centers," Lipton-McCombie said when asked if the bags are necessary. "We continue to assess alternatives to single-use polybags with our brand partners and for our Nordstrom Made products."

Lipton-McCombie said the company's sustainability efforts "continually evolve" to meet the ever-changing nature of business and the world. Nordstrom will reveal an update on its goals, including the 2025 plastic reduction goal, in its 2022 Impact Report scheduled to be released this fall.

Respect for people and planet are the two defining pillars at Urbn, the parent company of Free People, Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie and Nuuly. Waste reduction, circularity investments, better materials and cleaner energy are central to its environmental strides.

"Globally, direct-to-consumer mailers from all Urbn brands are 100 percent recyclable and made from 50 to 100 percent postconsumer waste. We are committed to creating more opportunities within our own supply chain to increase recycled materials and reduce waste," Urbn's senior manager of global sustainability and compliance Allie Noll told WWD.

By fall 2022, Urbn said 100 percent of d-to-c flat mailer bags would be "recycled and recyclable," or specifically, made with either 50 percent postconsumer waste (for auto-bagging mailers) or 100 percent postconsumer waste (for manual bagging), per its most recent impact report.

Noll said Urbn is testing new methods and partnerships that can help push forward recycling solutions for vendor plastics. "We plan to announce more details around these efforts in our Impact Scorecard later this year," she added.

Innovation may be needed in order for retailers to reach their plastic reduction goals and reduce plastic reliance.

"There's no scalable solutions from the thin-film plastic made from biodegradable solutions," stressed Susan Rockefeller, a judge on the Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize, in a March interview with WWD. "Many people are looking for scalable solutions — you need a lot of people at the table to move the needle. This is the moment, given the accelerated waste in our oceans."

When it comes to bags specifically, there are industry initiatives that launched with much fanfare like Beyond the Bag (with CVS, Target, Walmart and more committing $15 million to the project); the Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize; Fashion for Good's Circular Polybag Pilot, and Ellen MacArthur's New Plastics Economy. But scalable solutions still lag and progress is intermittently relayed.

These pilots look to fund innovators seeking to replace either the single-use plastic bag, in the case for Beyond the Bag, or plastic polybags, for both Tom Ford and Fashion for Good. There's also the New Plastics Economy, a voluntary commitment and roadmap for company plastic-reduction goals.

According to the New Plastics Economy progress report from 2022, the 500 signatories — representing 20 percent of all plastic packaging produced globally — have not only increased their total and virgin plastic use but their "key 2025 targets are expected to be missed," the report said.

In fashion and beauty, H&M Group, Inditex, Stella McCartney, Superdry, LPP, L’Oréal and Unilever are among those that pledged to switch to 100 percent reusable, recyclable or compostable plastic packaging by 2025. Those companies need to cut plastic usage by 5.4 percent annually, according to the New Plastics Economy, looking to alternative materials, elimination or light-weighting methods as governments seek bag bans and bottle incentives. As of 2020, Inditex reported phasing out single-use plastic bags in over 5,800 stores worldwide with the goal to eliminate single-use plastic in entirety by year's end.

Europe counts 18 countries with single-use plastic bag bans, while there are several U.S. states with similar laws. Earlier this week, recycled footwear brand Rothy's publicly backed the New York Bottle Bill up for vote Monday, drawing Kate Bosworth, Justin Long and more in support at an event in the brand's NoLIta store. The bill would increase the piece rate wage for bottle collectors (10,000 of whom informally recycled 70 percent of the city's plastic bottles) from 5 cents to 10 cents. The initiative underscores a recent wave of fashion companies backing policy — with many turning to bottle waste as feedstock for their recycled polyester collections as part of broader (virgin) synthetics reduction goals.

Less than 14 percent of all plastic packaging used globally is recycled, per the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Trex, which makes composite decking, is one potential outlet for retailer and brand plastics.

"Trex pays retailers for their trash," Stephanie Hicks, the firm's materials sourcing manager, said.

The Winchester, Virginia-based company uses 95 percent postconsumer plastic film and reclaimed wood for its products. It has a "Retail Recycling Program" specifically to tap plastic waste from retailers.

Hicks confirmed Rent the Runway, L.L. Bean, Urban Outfitters and Free People are active in the Retail Recycling Program. "For them, it's not only that they’re paid for recycling, but it's also waste aversion. It's a win-win — they get money for their recycling and they don't have to pay for their waste." Retailers also get to tout the efforts in their ESG reports, Hicks said.

Through Trex's program, retailers can send returned bags — like Rent the Runway's mailers — as well as bulk plastic, pallet wrap, unused scrap plastic bags and more.

Despite skepticism about recycling, polyethylene has a major market, and in 2022 Trex became a billion-dollar company, and is the largest recycler of polyethylene in North America across two facilities, according to Trex.

Hicks said the scale is such that its Winchester headquarters sees 30 to 40 truckloads a day, from all sources including retail, grocery, auto parts and more. Bales are gathered and credentialed as "post-consumer mix" that has been used and is ready to be recycled.

Though individual audits are not publicly provided, since its implementation Urbn said more than 150,000 pounds of plastic have been sent to Trex instead of landfills.

Among Trex's largest plastic sourcing partners are grocery chains and retailers that off-load their plastic shopping bags and polyethylene film (used to wrap products and pallets) to Trex. In its 2021 ESG report, Trex said it had recycled 441 million pounds of thin-film plastic (compared to 345 million pounds the previous year). Hicks said perception has changed around recycled decking with it being seen as "not trash" but a valuable input.

Recycled synthetic materials have been pushed in recent years as sustainable, but still ultimately rely on fossil fuels and existing recycling infrastructure. Hicks (an employee of 16 years at Trex) said as long as the quality and price have price parity with virgin materials, "[It's good] being able to support a recycling market."