Patagonia is the latest apparel company to join sustainability nonprofit Canopy’s Pack4Good sustainable packaging initiative.
The outdoor clothing giant has committed to developing and scaling next-gen packaging solutions made with materials such as agricultural waste and non-forest alternative fibers. Patagonia already uses 100-percent recycled materials for its catalogs and packaging, and the company’s packaging and branding director Jennifer Patrick said this initiative will allow them to do more to reduce their environmental impact.
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“As part of our goal to build the best product and constantly improve everything we do, we are taking steps to review and develop new, more-responsible packaging materials in partnership with Canopy,” she said.
Patagonia already partnered with Canopy to shift its viscose and rayon supply chain, sourcing exclusively from producers rated as “green shirt” in the organization’s annual Hot Button Report. Canopy awards green shirt certification to fiber producers based on their work to eliminate the use of ancient and endangered forests in their supply chain.
Earlier this year, Patagonia partnered with Eastman to launch a fiber-to-fiber recycling program, creating sustainable fibers from unusable pre- and post-consumer textile waste. In February, Eastman reported it had already handled 8,000 pounds worth of waste from Patagonia.
According to Canopy, paper packaging such as delivery boxes, hang tags and shoe boxes leads to the logging of 3.1 billion trees annually, many from climate-critical forests. With the inclusion of Patagonia, Canopy’s Pack4Good initiative now counts 445 brands worth more than $249 billion in annual revenue as participants. Other Pack4Good participants include Zara parent company Inditex, Mango, Zalando and Pangaia, among others.
“This commitment comes at a crucial time when the need for low-carbon alternatives to forest-based packaging is more pressing than ever. By supporting the scale-up of Next Gen materials, Patagonia is not only contributing to the preservation of Ancient and Endangered Forests, it is leading the outdoor apparel sector towards a more sustainable future,” said Nicole Rycroft, founder and executive director, Canopy.
