N Brown, the parent of the JD Williams, Jacamo and Simply Be brands, has announced that it will begin rolling out Polymax® powered by HydropolTM packaging for its N Brown own-label products from November 2024.
Plastic film wrapping is among the biggest causes of recycling contamination in the UK, with one in five Brits attempting to recycle this packaging in areas that don’t accept it, and only 9% of flexible plastics being recycled correctly. This ‘wishcycling’ is not only an issue for recycling facilities but could be causing anxiety for customers trying to do the right thing.
Unlike traditional plastic film, Polymax powered by HydropolTM packaging can be recycled alongside paper, plastic, metal or food without any risk of contamination. Consumers can put Polymax packaging in their black bins, where it will safely biodegrade, or in their recycling bins where it will dissolve as part of the process without the risk of damaging or polluting the environment. It can even by dissolved in hot water, leaving no harmful microplastics behind.
As well as offering N Brown customers an easier and more sustainable way to dispose of their packaging, moving to Polymax packaging will have a significant impact on the amount of plastic used in N Brown’s operations. It’s expected that conventional plastic use will be reduced by almost half (44%) once the Polymax packaging is rolled out across all own-brand products.
If Polymax packaging was used globally for all garment packaging, it’s estimated that around 25 million tonnes of conventional, hard-to-recycle packaging could be prevented from entering the environment each year.
Sarah Welsh, CEO of retail at N Brown Group said: “Reducing our impact on the environment while ensuring a high-quality product experience for our customers is something we take very seriously. Packaging has always been a key area of innovation for us as it makes up a significant proportion of the plastic that is used across our operations.
“Polymax® powered by HydropolTM is a really exciting product that offers us the ability to package our clothes effectively without the use of conventional plastic and provides our customers with multiple easy and environmentally friendly disposal options.
“This new packaging is going to enable us to reduce our conventional plastic usage by 44%, without compromising on the quality of our packaging. We’re excited for customers to start receiving some own-brand products in this new packaging this Autumn, with the full rollout to 100% of own-brand products set to be complete by the end of 2025.”
Tom Wielicki at Maxim Labels and Packaging said: “We’re incredibly excited that N Brown Group will become the largest retailer in the UK to use Polymax ® powered by HydropolTM packaging for their products. We believe that Polymax ® powered by HydropolTM is the solution to the burden of conventional single-use plastic in the fashion packaging sector, and we’re proud of the fact that it is fully recyclable, biodegradable and water soluble.
“We hope that other large retailers in the UK will follow N Brown in choosing a more sustainable future for their garment delivery.”
