Kathmandu, winner of a 2016 Australian Packaging Covenat Award in the Clothing, Footwear & Fashion category, is finalising a new plan to ensure its LDPE/plastic polybags are recycled and repurposed across its store and distribution centre network.
Kathmandu's strong focus on product stewardship has seen it refine its range to meet higher standards of packaging sustainability.
For the clothing and travel equipment supplier, stewardship involves working on each product's environmental, health, and safety effects throughout its lifecycle with the help of design teams, executives, and material suppliers.
Packaging changes
Kathmandu's new strategy relates to its APC Action Plan goals, and it's reaching these by using an international sustainability assessment tool called the Higg Index.
When Kathmandu recognised that metallic inks from swing tags could release hazardous emissions during production and printing processes, for example, it set about replacing the inks.
The format of swingtags is a combination of the outer, FSC-accredited card and the inner, recyclable white card.
Kathmandu's inner white pieces were printed with a silver metallic ink until a year ago when it made the change. The company produces close to four million swingtags per season, and runs 2.5 seasons a year.
Removing excess packaging has been another key focus for the company. It chose to remove virgin plastic shrink wrap and product information labelling from its self-inflating sleeping mat range.
It adapted its product design to print or embroider product information directly onto the stuff sack.
According to Kathmandu, this initiative proved to be more environmentally sustainable while improving the visual aesthetic and quality of the product. It saved 1,150m2 of virgin plastic and 2,740.5m2 of sticker paper per order, per season.
Kathmandu redesigned its footwear boxes back in 2014, but it used up all its supplier's footwear boxes first before implementing the redesign.
In the last year it began production of the new design, which includes an updated sticker and layout using environmentally friendly soy ink. A total of 94 per cent less ink was used from the last design, and the boxes are now glue-free and flat-packable.
Finding compostable alternatives to its current polyethylene bags was another challenge it took on in partnership with its polybag supplier Avery Dennison.
Waste not, want not
In 2015, a survey of Kathmandu's 160 retail stores on their waste management practices provided benchmark data and identified improvement opportunities. One was to implement #4 LDPE soft plastic recycling for a number of stores and its national distribution centre. Store teams had reported that printed materials, booklets, and brochures were not being used, and that everything could be communicated electronically.
Beyond packaging
Kathmandu has also achieved 100 per cent certification to the Responsible Down Standard and has been part of the Trade for New campaign that enables customers to recycle their old or unwanted clothing. Kathmandu also upcycled over 1.2 million post-consumer plastic bottles into backpacks and garments during the year as part of its Repreve range.
Kathmandu's ultimate goal is to be a ‘zero waste to landfill’ business by 2018.
Transport solutions
Kathmandu assessed the excessive use of LDPE plastic (polybags) in transport packaging and promptly made changes.
Plastic polybags are used to ensure the product stays safe and dry during transport and DC handling. Pallets containing freshly shipped product that arrives daily, sometimes in two or three loads, are also covered in plastic LDPE shrink wrap. Every retailer that has an international transport supply chain uses LDPE plastic.
The only sustainable solution was for Kathmandu to recycle the material to ensure the plastic is continually reused and avoid going to landfill.
In March 2016, Kathmandu completed a store-wide waste management survey asking store managers how they discarded waste material in-store in order to measure diversion rates.
Questions related to the recycling of cardboard and paper, soft plastic polybags and pallet shrink wrap, staff lunch waste, and VM material.
Following the survey it installed a soft plastic/ LDPE recycling bin for its Dunedin and Melbourne CBD stores, and the waste system is now part of its store development terms of trade and strategy.
Kathmandu aims to install approximately 33 LDPE plastic recycling bins in stores by 2018.
