Grundéns, producer of fishing apparel and footwear, announced new eco packaging that is completely compostable and can reduce plastic poly bags that have been common in packaging. Each year, 500 billion plastic bags are used worldwide with only 1% being recycled. Many of the rest reportedly end up in the world's oceans, where it's estimated that there will be more plastics than fish by 2050.

"With plastics in the ocean playing a major role in the health of many fisheries around the world, we're taking the lead in bringing an alternative to poly bags to the market," says Grundéns CEO David Mellon. "Sustainability is a journey, and we are constantly striving to improve the environmental performance of our own products, packaging, and operations. This new compostable packaging will allow customers to drop it into their own home or municipal compost stream, confident they aren't adding plastic waste into the environment."

Grundéns is now using 100% biodegradable packaging made from a Polylactide (PLA) whose raw material is glucose from corn starch. It will fully decompose in under 1 year and can be placed in a household or municipal composting system by cutting it up into strips. All new products shipped in 2021 will be in compostable packaging, while existing inventory will be transitioned to the new packaging in the coming months.

The packaging was produced in 6 different sizes, ensuring the minimum amount of packaging is used depending on the size of the product being shipped. Is also cuts down on the amount of needless air that is often shipped around the world due to excess packaging.

The packaging project is intended to be open source, with information about the supplier printed on the packaging itself. Grundéns encourages other brands to follow suit and increase the rate at which plastic bags are eliminated from the supply chain. A dedicated sustainability landing page on Grundéns website provides additional information about how Grundéns is living up to its purpose of being a better environmental steward.

For more information, visit www.grundens.com.