Scotch & Soda teams up with Tipa on compostable packaging

Amsterdam-based brand Scotch & Soda has announced a partnership with Tipa, which creates compostable and biodegradable packaging solutions to help it move away from conventional plastic polybags in its supply chain.

Scotch & Soda will integrate Tipa bioplastic bags into its supply chain, stepping away from conventional plastic polybags for all product categories by 2025 as part of its sustainability mission to contribute to environmental protection.

The fashion brand is committing to replacing one million polybags by mid-2022 by ensuring that its garments are packed in Tipa bioplastic bags. For spring and summer, the first two collections of the year, Tipa bags will represent 21 percent of the total product packaging and will be used for high volume items, such as T-shirts, jeans, sweatshirts, sweaters and shirts, throughout menswear, womenswear and kidswear.

Scotch & Soda sustainability director, Jelle de Jong, said in a statement: “We believe there is room for improvement when it comes to the implementation, collection and composting of bioplastic packaging in the fashion industry. By working together with Tipa and local waste processors, we hope a product traditionally considered as waste will through the composting process return nutrients to the soil.”

Scotch & Soda to step away from conventional plastic polybags in its supply chain

It is common for fashion labels to package their finished garments to protect them from water, handling and transportation to ensure customers receive their orders in the best possible condition. These bags are generally made of Polyethylene (PE), a polymer derived from fossil fuels and usually end up in landfill.

Tipa’s bags are made from 20 percent bio-based plastic, derived from corn starch and sugar cane and 80 percent fossil-based plastic, while offering the same level of protection as conventional polybags. They are also both biodegradable and compostable, with the bags suitable for at-home and industrial composting, and have been designed to fully disintegrate over a three to six month period.

In addition, as part of Scotch & Soda’s mission to support global biological recycling, the brand aims to offer customers the opportunity to drop off their bioplastic Tipa bags in selected stores, making it easier for those living in cities who might not have space to compost. The brand will work with local waste processors to ensure the bags go to composting, starting with its two London stores, followed by key locations in Amsterdam, Paris and New York in 2022.

Daphna Nissenbaum, chief executive and co-founder of Tipa, added: “Consumers are more educated than ever about the impact of plastic packaging waste, and numerous studies we have conducted across Europe show that they have come to expect compostable packaging from the companies they purchase from. Tipa is proud to be able to offer a solution for Scotch & Soda that will protect their garments while degrading safely into compost after use.”

Scotch & Soda also adds that addressing sustainability is also at the core of its brand, starting with a focus on materials. From its summer 2022 collection onwards, it is looking to ensure a responsible materials standard of a minimum of 50 percent certified fibres that are organic, recycled, regenerated or renewable from a biological or technical source, per item. With the Amsterdam-based fashion label setting itself a goal to have 70 percent of styles meeting this responsible materials standard by 2024.