Duo UK and Oxfam Ireland launch bio-based, reusable mailer bags for e-commerce circularity

Duo UK has collaborated with Oxfam Ireland to bring sugarcane-based mailing bags to Ireland’s e-commerce market. The solution aims to encourage people to donate clothing online, promoting recyclable and reusable e-commerce bags.

The packaging manufacturer says its donation bag is designed using bio-based, renewable materials, and recycled PE. The first consignment was introduced into circulation on March 31. 

Packaging Insights speaks to Zoe Brimelow, brand director at Duo, and Mark Sweeney, donated goods strategy manager at Oxfam Ireland, about how the partnership promotes circularity in e-commerce purchases. 

Brimelow says: “Duo has developed a branded mailing bag material made from a blend of bio-based GreenPE and recycled PE. GreenPE is Braskem’s bio-based material derived from sugarcane.”

Braskem is a Netherlands-based chemical manufacturer that develops bio-based plastic alternatives. 

“Duo was the first UK manufacturer to produce mailing bags from this material in 2014. Using these materials aligns with Oxfam Ireland’s sustainability commitments.”

The donation bag is made from recycled PE and sugarcane (Image credit: Duo UK).Decentralizing donations

The bag features instructions on the donation process and a QR code that quickly takes people to the website of An Post — Ireland’s national post service. 

Sweeney explains that in Ireland, donating to charity is difficult for many people who live in areas without charity shops. The e-commerce packaging solution aims to make donating more accessible and environmentally sustainable. 

“Maybe people don’t have their [own] transport, or it’s as simple as life is busy. Oxfam wanted to develop a solution that enables everyone to donate, regardless of where they live – all they need to do is order a mailing bag online for free,” he says.

Oxfam’s circular solution 

The donation bag is free of charge for people who donate via An Post. It encourages people to donate, helping extend clothing life and reduce consumption. 

Sweeney says: “It was essential to find a closed-loop solution that allowed Oxfam to reach a wider number of people without compromising the organization’s long-term sustainability commitments.”

Duo UK's e-commerce mailer aims to make donating more accessible and sustainable. “If you’re trying to reduce consumption and extend the life of clothing, the last thing you want to do is produce a donation bag that goes against that purpose.”

Oxfam Ireland indicates that it has four priority goals, including accountable governance and climate justice. The initiative is the first of its kind in Ireland’s charity sector and forms part of the charity’s ambition to promote the concept of circularity more widely.

“The final product needed to be something the charity could be proud of and stand by, and we’ve certainly found that. The brand-led donation bag has several key features that support its sustainability objectives and has been designed using bio-based, renewable material and recycled PE,” says Sweeney.

Duo and Emerge recently piloted a regional recycling scheme in Greater Manchester, UK, for low-density polyethylene materials as the country prepares for the incoming packaging EPR.