By Beth Hale for the Daily Mail
Published: 17:51 EDT, 30 August 2022 | Updated: 11:26 EDT, 31 August 2022
We're all trying to cut down on our plastic use. We carry reusable shopping bags, we buy second-hand clothing, and when we do need to use a plastic bag in a shop we dutifully pay for it.
But alongside our efforts, are retailers doing their bit to cut down on plastic, using it only when absolutely necessary?
Because, as this Mail audit of retailers shows, when you order clothes from them online, you'll be met with a heap of packaging and flimsy plastic polybags — not to mention the hangers.
Beth Hale's (pictured) said: 'As this Mail audit of retailers shows, when you order clothes from them online, you'll be met with a heap of packaging and flimsy plastic polybags — not to mention the hangers'
You might find a home for the large plastic dress hangers, but who needs a set of those fiddly little hangers that retailers use to display lingerie? Then there are the plastic collar supports and clips that come with men's shirts. The list goes on.
By the time you have taken your items out of the large delivery bag (usually plastic) and unwrapped each item from its plastic casing, you will find yourself surrounded, as I recently was, by enough waste material to fill a kitchen bin.
What happens to all that waste?
Every year, about 180 billion polybags are reckoned to be produced, to store, transport and protect all manner of garments in the global fashion industry.
According to the climate action body WRAP, in the UK we throw away some 290,000 tonnes of plastic bags and wrapping each year. Yet only 6 per cent of our flexible plastic packaging (bread bags, crisp packets and polybags, for example) is being recycled. The rest ends up in general waste and ultimately in landfill, or escapes into ecosystems.
'Millions of tonnes of plastic wash into the ocean every year. Studies found that 90 per cent of all seabirds and 52 per cent of sea turtle species had ingested it. Such statistics are a bitter pill when you consider the transformation in how we shop in stores', writes Beth Hale
Millions of tonnes of plastic wash into the ocean every year. Studies found that 90 per cent of all seabirds and 52 per cent of sea turtle species had ingested it.
Such statistics are a bitter pill when you consider the transformation in how we shop in stores.
Back in 2008, the Daily Mail led calls for a crackdown on single-use plastic bags, with the launch of its Banish The Bags campaign.
Since the 5p charge was introduced in 2015, the scourge of the single-use carrier bag has been hugely reduced. According to recent figures, charges on single-use plastic carrier bags have cut their use by 97 per cent since 2014.
Plastic packaging has also decreased on supermarket shelves, with single-use bags for fruit and vegetables increasingly rare.
But the same cannot be said of the fashion polybag.
They do serve a purpose. The flimsy swathes of plastic — mostly made of polyethylene — protect their contents from dirt, moisture and other damage.
When the outdoor clothing retailer Patagonia studied the viability of sending out its products without polybags, about 30 per cent of garments that went through the system without their protection were damaged, posing a second environmental cost.
These bags are made from various materials but the most widely used is low-density polyethylene.
Although LDPE has a lower carbon footprint than many materials because its flimsiness means it takes less energy to produce, polybags are the ultimate single-use plastic. Once one has been torn open, who would re-use it?
Despite being recyclable, flexible plastics are not widely recycled; only about one local authority in ten recycles plastic film, partly because it is so insubstantial and is more prone to contamination than sturdier plastics.
As for hangers, they pose a problem all of their own.
As many as ten billion plastic hangers are manufactured every year around the world, with an estimated 400 million taken home by British shoppers or received through the post. It is thought that up to 100 million a year are thrown away.
The trouble is that the types of plastic used to make hangers are often low-grade. So although they are recyclable in theory, they are so cheap to make that historically it has been judged easier to make new ones.
There is also the complication of them containing multiple materials — plastic, metal, even wood —which are impossible to separate at the average recycling depot.
To explore how much plastic packaging major clothing retailers use, we placed an online order for five items — a man's shirt, girl's school pinafore, woman's dress, bra and knickers — from six large British shops
When hangers are recycled, they are broken down into pellets and moulded into new ones. But this weakens the plastic to such an extent that the hangers can only be recreated two or three times before they have to be discarded.
Shoppers are told they can return hangers to stores for re-use. But how many of us do?
After a recent row about the number of hangers used in lingerie sales, M&S said it was introducing table displays for underwear in store and looking at ways to remove hangers in online orders.
So what is the answer to the plastic waste conundrum?
Viola Wohlgemuth, a campaigner with Greenpeace, says: 'The first point is that in most cases the packaging isn't even needed, so all of the problems resulting from it could be easily avoided.
'There is a place for plastic packaging, but it is limited — for example, when it's needed to protect newly made clothes from damp and mould during shipping. But this can easily be achieved through large polybags which are then re-used, rather than individually wrapping the garments.
'Instead of trying to work out what to do with all this packaging, we need to change the way we think about how we are just turning resources into waste.'
To explore how much plastic packaging major clothing retailers use, we placed an online order for five items — a man's shirt, girl's school pinafore, woman's dress, bra and knickers — from six large British shops. So what are our High Street favourites doing to cut down on packaging, and who uses it most?
The order came in a large cardboard box, which at least can be reused or recycled. The inserts in the men's shirt were also made of cardboard rather than plastic. However, the bra, knickers, dress and pinafore all came on black plastic hangers — and every item came in an individual polybag.
Extras: Two balls of paper padding inside bra cups, shirt came with two cardboard inserts and two smaller bits of cardboard.
Weight of packaging: 702g (456g box, plus 246g of additional packaging).
What the packaging says: One bag has printed instructions asking the customer to recycle it at a supermarket recycling point and reuse the hanger or return it to store. The other bags carry a recycling symbol, as does the box.
John Lewis says: 'We're making good progress on our commitment that all our own-brand packaging is widely recyclable, reusable or home compostable by 2023, whilst also cutting out unnecessary packaging.'
The store is exploring ways to reduce plastic packaging and, in the case of shirts, to replace any current plastic with cardboard.
John Lewis: The order came in a large cardboard box, which at least can be reused or recycled. The inserts in the men's shirt were also made of cardboard rather than plastic. However, the bra, knickers, dress and pinafore all came on black plastic hangers — and every item came in an individual polybag
My Sainsbury's order contained not only four inner plastic bags but four black plastic hangers, including a small hanger each for the bra and knickers.
Outer packaging: One large plastic bag
Extras: Two balls of tissue padding with bra and one cardboard hanger label, plastic and cardboard collar inserts with shirt, along with plastic clip.
What the packaging says: Plastic bags are printed with a recycling label.
Tu says: Supermarkets are the main point at which 'flexi-plastics' like polybags can be recycled. Sainsbury's says it has recycling points at all its supermarkets.
Tu (at Sainsbury's): My Sainsbury's order contained not only four inner plastic bags but four black plastic hangers, including a small hanger each for the bra and knickers.
M&S also sent its bra and knickers on small hangers, although only the pinafore and dress came in inner plastic bags. The clips in its shirts were metal, though it still has a plastic collar support.
Outer packaging: One large plastic bag
Extras: Card label on bra hanger, plastic and card collar support for shirt, plus four metal clips and a cardboard insert.
What the packaging says: Inner bags have a printed recycling symbol, the green outer bag (which is dyed) does not.
M&S says: 'We are committed to reducing our plastic consumption as we work towards our goal of being zero-waste by 2025.'
Hangers can be returned to any clothing and home store, and shopping bags are made with recycled materials that can be returned in store for reuse. M&S has removed individual outer bags for single shirts, and swapped plastic clips for metal ones.
M&S: M&S also sent its bra and knickers on small hangers, although only the pinafore and dress came in inner plastic bags. The clips in its shirts were metal, though it still has a plastic collar support
The only retailer not to include hangers, Next still put every item in its own polybag.
Outer packaging: One large plastic bag
Extras: The shirt came with one cardboard collar, two plastic collar supports, three clips, a sheet of paper wrapping a cardboard insert, a sheet of tissue paper and a Micro-Pak sheet (a product made of bentonite clay designed to limit the damaging effect of moisture).
What the packaging says: Plastic bags are printed with a recycling symbol. Some state they are made from 30 per cent recycled material and 'please recycle me'.
Next says: Its reusable carrier bags can be returned to stores by customers when they are worn out and replaced free, with the retailer ensuring they are recycled. But the recycling section of its website does not mention polybags.
Next: The only retailer not to include hangers, Next still put every item in its own polybag
My delivery arrived in a large brown paper envelope and was completely free from hangers, although each item came in an individual polybag.
Outer packaging: One large brown envelope
WHAT THE PACKAGING SAYS: The plastic bag in which the dress is packaged is different from the rest — it is made from recycled plastic. All the bags carry the standard recycle symbol.
H&M SAYS: It has pledged to cut down on single-use packaging wherever possible and to make all packaging from recycled or sustainably sourced material by 2030.
My delivery arrived in a large brown paper envelope and was completely free from hangers, although each item came in an individual polybag
Initially, my heart sank; my delivery arrived in two large plastic bags. Inside, only the lingerie was wrapped in plastic and there were no plastic inserts in the shirt. But all the items came on hangers.
Outer packaging: Two large plastic bags
Extras: One extra card label with bra, a small cardboard collar support with shirt.
WHAT THE PACKAGING SAYS: One of the hangers declares in small writing 'please recycle in store'; all the inner plastic bags carry the recycle symbol.
ASDA SAYS: There are in-store recycling bins for all types of plastic bags and film packaging, 'all of which we send for recycling'. On its website the retailer states it is 'no longer sending coat hangers with online clothing parcels and trying to retain clothes hangers in store. All the hangers we retain are either reused or recycled into new George hangers'.
Initially, my heart sank; my delivery arrived in two large plastic bags. Inside, only the lingerie was wrapped in plastic and there were no plastic inserts in the shirt. But all the items came on hangers
Restaurant wagamama has announced that it is replacing more than eight million of its bowls with a new packaging that will use recyclable material.
The move is set to remove up to 330 tonnes of virgin plastic from the supply chain every year.
The new packaging, made from cPET, will reduce the carbon footprint of the brand's most popular dish – the katsu curry – by 62%.
Rollout is expected from August 15 and will be live across all restaurants and delivery kitchens by October this year in a bid to help tackle the world's increasing plastic pollution problem.
Alongside the new initiative, wagamama will also be launching its bowl return programme 'Bowl Bank', which will invite guests to bring their packaging back to their local restaurant.
The restaurant giant's CEO Thomas Heier said: 'Reducing our use of virgin plastics is a complicated mission – but one we have been dedicated to for four years. This has been driven by the belief that we needed do better for our guests, teams and the planet.'
The comments below have not been moderated.
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.
We are no longer accepting comments on this article.
Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd
Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group