Shirt Manufacturer Olymp Focuses on Sustainable Packaging
Market leader Olymp plans to introduce more environmentally friendly packaging for its shirts by fall 2022. These will then be delivered exclusively in packaging made of recycled plastic, and plastic will be dispensed with entirely for all other items, explains the clothing specialist.
Olymp Bezner KG in Bietigheim-Bissingen has now developed a more environmentally friendly shirt packaging that simultaneously fulfills all the indispensable protective functions as well as meeting the high demands of an appealing product presentation. “In an extensive development phase, we devoted ourselves intensively to the complex issue of combining the functional requirements of the packaging, which in its protective function ensures the positive overall impression and thus the saleability of the shirts, with the growing ecological demand,” explains Mark Bezner, Managing Partner of Olymp Bezner KG.
The new packaging was initially tested in an extended trial period in selected retail and trade areas and, according to the company, met with a positive response from sales staff and customers. With the upcoming fall collection, which will be available in stores from July 2022, it will then be used not only for shirts but also for all other items. In the future, all packaging will be optimized in accordance with the five underlying packaging principles of “rethink,” “reduce,” “reuse,” “recyclable,” and “recycled.” The use of materials, particularly plastics, will be reduced as far as possible, and the focus will also be on materials that are more readily reusable or recyclable.
Packaging must survive long transport routes
“Apart from the shipping bag for the shirts, which is made of 100 percent recycled material and protects the contents from staining and moisture during transport, no plastic components will then be used at all. The switch will save countless tons of plastic annually in the future. In addition, greenhouse gas emissions in material production can be significantly reduced, especially by substituting plastic packaging components,” the company explains.
For the clothing supplier, which specializes in shirts, product packaging was very important, as shirts are predominantly marketed in a folded state in order to save space. In addition, the goods are sensitive and must also survive the transport routes undamaged: they have to last many weeks packed in stacks in shipping boxes on shipping containers and then, after a stopover at the central warehouse in Bietigheim-Bissingen, are shipped again to many thousands of distribution points and end consumers worldwide.
