Uniqlo introduces recycled, paid-for shopping bags

By

Tanissia Issad

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Aug 22, 2018

From 2016, in many European countries, single-use plastic shopping bags are either prohibited, unless they are recyclable, or have to be paid for. Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo is following suit on a worldwide scale, having decided to offer its customers paid-for, re-usable eco-friendly shopping bags manufactured with Hong Kong company Burltex Nonwoven Industrial Ltd.
 

The new shopping bags are made from recycled plastic bottles - 82% of the material used for the bags is recycled PET - and they are set to replace all the paper bags currently available in Uniqlo stores by 2020. The new bags will be available in Europe and online from August 24, at a price of €1.90 each. On launch day, they will be offered for free to all Uniqlo customers spending more than €60 in-store, while afterwards, Uniqlo will apply a €0.20 discount on all purchases by customers presenting the eco-friendly bags.
 
“We are engaged in reducing our environmental impact, for a cleaner, healthier future. Each Uniqlo Eco bag means that six less plastic bottles will end up in oceans, lakes and landfills,” stated Maria Samoto le Dous, in charge of sustainable development at Uniqlo Europe, in a press release.

The initiative is part of Uniqlo’s set of eco-responsible policies, like the ‘Uniqlo Recycle’ programme, which offers Uniqlo customers the opportunity to bring back the clothes bought from the Japanese fashion retailer when they are no longer used, so that they can be distributed to people in need.

Uniqlo is the leading retailer for the Japanese group Fast Retailing. From September 1 2017 to May 31 2018, Fast Retailing, also the owner of Comptoir des Cotonniers, Princesse tam.tam and Theory, generated a revenue of JPY1.704 trillion, equivalent to €12.8 billion and to an increase of 15.3%.