Weavabel launches closed-loop recycling system for poly bags
Weavabel, a UK-based trims and packaging specialist, has recently introduced a closed-loop recycling system that collects used poly bags from fashion brands and reprocesses them into new packaging. The system is designed to help brands comply with upcoming EU packaging rules without requiring them to build their own recycling infrastructure.
Fashion brands order the poly bags from Weavabel’s nearest warehouse, use them to pack garments, and ship the packed inventory to distribution centres. After garments reach stores, the brands gather the used bags from their stores and return them to the distribution centres, where the bags are sorted and baled. Weavabel then picks up the baled waste by truck, consolidates it across the EU and United Kingdom, and sends it to a licensed importer for sorting, shredding and initial processing. The processed material undergoes polymer blending, is pelletised, and blown into film at Weavabel’s production plant, where it is formed into new poly bags for reuse.
“Poly bags have always been treated as disposable, but that thinking doesn’t hold up anymore,” Saqib Ihsan, head of regulatory compliance and sustainability at Weavabel said.
“Regulation is moving fast, and most brands are being asked to prove circularity, not just claim it—so we built this loop to give them a real, traceable answer. It works with the way poly bags already move through warehouses, factories and distribution centres, so nothing has to change on the brand’s side except where the waste ends up,” Saqib Ihsan, head of regulatory compliance and sustainability at Weavabel said.
The European Union’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation and Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation are pushing fashion and lifestyle brands to demonstrate material circularity, while existing collection systems remain fragmented and recycling infrastructure limited.
What we know
United Kingdom-based Weavabel designed a new packaging system that recycles and reprocesses used poly bags that would otherwise end up in a landfill.
It begins in Weavabel’s warehouses, where poly bags are available for factories to order from their nearest location.
Weavabel then collects the waste by truck and consolidates it across the EU and U.K. for recycling.
The material then undergoes polymer processing and blending before being pelletized for film blowing at Weavabel’s production plant, where it can be made into new bags.
EU regulations, including the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), are pushing fashion and lifestyle brands to demonstrate material circularity.