Two giants of the fashion industry are engaged in a small battle over the use of plastic. In its roadmap, Inditex planned to eliminate plastic from its supply chain by 2023. The company already has 100% recycled cardboard bags for all of its brands.
However, the company has remained open-ended since then Zalando continues to use this material to package the Galician company's branded garments that it sends to consumers. The problem is that Zalando is also a sales platform for Inditex, where they sell items from Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Bershka and Pull & Bear.
Different options to reduce the ecological footprint
Accordingly Bloomberg, This is the answer from the German retailer “Due to the large number of brands selling on their platform, it is not possible to customize their internal processes for each one.”. Furthermore, Zalando believes that replacing plastic with alternatives such as cardboard or paper will not reduce the impact of packaging.
Instead, the German company is testing various options to reduce its environmental footprint, such as folding clothes differently and reducing the thickness of plastic bags. Their focus is on developing solutions that prioritize durability and minimize the impact of materials and waste. For this reason, the company is exploring options for reusing polyethylene bags.
Despite this, From Inditex they confirm that they are working internally with their partners to achieve the goal of eliminating single-use plastics for customers by the end of this year..