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Gymshark

our packaging

How we’ve reduced our packaging

As part of our goal to wear more, waste less, we’ve been working to reduce the packaging we use. This is what we’ve done so far:

  • Removed the handle from our mailing bags. This was 140mm of material that wasn’t used. You get your Gymshark order delivered straight to your door, so what’s the point of a handle? By removing this, we saved around 13% of the bag’s total weight (averaged across all sizes).
  • Removed the paper returns forms and labels from every order, and made the process digital instead. As well as making the returns process a lot less hassle, it saves around 6.7g per order.
  • Reduced the thickness of our mailing bags. We started at 100 micron, then reduced it to 65/80 micron while changing the material to use 80% post-consumer waste. We then reduced it further to 50/50/75 micron, keeping 80% of recycled content.
  • Our product bags use 100% recycled content. This is why they’re a bit cloudy and can look different from bag to bag - the recycled material means we can’t control how it looks.

PACKAGING MATERIALS

Gymshark packaging bags

How we choose our packaging materials

We always choose materials that create the least overall impact, to help reach our goal to wear more, waste less.

You might be wondering why we still use plastic bags. That’s a fair question, so here’s why:

  • They’re lighter than paper. If we did use paper, the bags would end up being multiple times the weight of plastic bags, which would increase the carbon footprint of our shipping.
  • Manufacturing plastic uses fewer resources. E.g. manufacturing paper actually uses more water than plastic (on average).
  • Producing plastic is more cost effective than creating other materials, and recycled content can be easily added (like in our product and mailing bags).

Of course, we’re still totally aware of the negative sides of plastics. These include:

  • Plastics that come from fossil fuels, which are a finite resource.
  • Some plastics can take up to 500 years (or unknown timescales) to degrade if they end up in landfill.
  • While rigid plastic is easily recycled at home, you need to take soft plastics to bigger stores if you want to recycle them, which puts all the responsibility on you.
  • Plastics are dangerous for wildlife if they end up in the ocean or other natural environments.

To work against these issues, we’re looking into alternative materials while still balancing our carbon footprint, use of resource, and the ease and availability of recycling.

Gymshark packaging bags

Materials we use in our packaging

COURIER BAGS

At the moment, we use LDPE (low-density polyethylene) for bags used for online orders.

The individual bags for each product are 40 microns thick and are made using 99% post-consumer recycled content (the remaining 1% is adhesive and chalk to stop the bags sticking together).

We also use LDPE for our mailing bags, but they’re a bit thicker so they can survive going through the mail. The thickness can be different depending on the region and size of the bag because of different manufacturing processes. All are between 50-75 microns thick and all contain 68-80% post-consumer recycled content.

GYMSHARK REGENT STREET PACKAGING

We use FSC certified paper, which means the paper is sourced from responsibly managed forests, and we use recycled content where we can. Any varnishes added to the paper are water based to make recycling easy, and even the handles of our carrier bags are made from paper.

OUR HANG TAGS

We use hang tags at Gymshark Regent St. to help you easily find sizing, price, and fabric info. They’re made from FSC certified paper (including the string) so everything can go straight into the recycling bin.

Gymshark packaging bags

WHAT TO DO WITH OUR PACKAGING

PLASTIC COURIER BAGS

Our product bags and mailing bags can be recycled at local supermarkets. They can also be recycled at home, although unfortunately there aren’t many local authorities that collect this type of plastic (but it’s always worth checking).

The best way to go is to save up all your soft plastic bags and films. Then take them to the supermarket and drop them into the ‘Soft/Flexible Plastic Recycling Bin’ at the front of the store.

The websites below let you search a recyclable material (in this case ‘plastic bags and wrapping’) and a postcode, and then it’ll tell you whether you’re in an area where the local authority lets you to put these materials into your recycling bin.

If you’re not, the website will take you to a page to help you find your local recycling supermarket.

https://www.recyclenow.com/recycle-an-item (UK)

https://bagandfilmrecycling.org/ (US)

https://redcycle.net.au/where-to-redcycle/ (AUS)

RETAIL PACKAGING

Gymshark Regent St.’s carrier bags, boxes, sleeves and hang tags can all be recycled at home in your normal recycling bin. They’re 100% paper, including the string on the hang tag. All you have to do is remove the metal safety pin and put the rest into your recycling bin.