Flying Tiger sustainability director on surpassing 2025 plastic reduction goal

Flying Tiger Copenhagen, a Danish variety store chain, has achieved a 64% reduction in plastic packaging usage, surpassing its 2025 target of a 50% reduction. We speak to the global company’s director of sustainability and social responsibility, Trine Pondal, about its commitment to “eliminating as much plastic as possible.”

According to the variety store chain’s latest annual report, 96% of its overall packaging was recyclable in 2024. For non-food items, recyclability reaches 99.5%, with only a small number of plastic blister packs remaining.

Pondal tells Packaging Insights: “Our primary focus has been simple: eliminate as much plastic as possible. This has opened for new designs of die-cuts, and it turned out that a lot of packaging can, in fact, be done without the use of plastic.” 

“Historically, plastic became a default choice — largely out of convenience. Once we changed directions, things evolved quickly over a couple of years, and now, we have removed 64% of our plastic in packaging compared to our 2019 baseline.”

Strategies reshaped by regulations 

Sustainability remains a central focus for Flying Tiger as the company works on its obligations under the European Green Deal. 

Flying Tiger’s guiding principle was using the least amount of material necessary while complying with legal and functional requirements.Major regulatory changes such as the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, the EU Deforestation Regulation, and the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation are significantly transforming the company’s approach to compliance, states Flying Tiger.

“We see a broader shift across categories driven by EU legislation, including EPR and higher taxation on plastic packaging. These regulations are pushing companies to reduce their reliance on plastic in packaging overall, including for stationery products,” says Pondal.

Balancing sustainability with practicality

Flying Tiger’s approach to packaging is to use less material, eliminate unnecessary plastic, and design packaging that’s easy to separate and recycle. 

In the company’s e-commerce operations, plastic-free, FSC-certified packaging is said to be standard. Last year, Flying Tiger introduced made-on-site air-filled paper cushions to better protect fragile items while improving sustainability. 

When it comes to the trade-offs during the packaging redesign, Pondal notes that a few types of packaging took a bit more trial and error. 

“Specifically, around the durability of cardboard packaging and the ease of use when putting it on shelves or hangers in stores. Feedback from store staff was critical in this process — their hands-on experience helped us refine the solutions, so they worked not only for sustainability goals but also for real-world retail environments.”

The main challenge for Flying Tiger now lies in replacing metalized plastic for items with oil content in food packaging. It is seeking sustainable alternatives for this material as a priority.

“We’ll keep making good progress and try to figure out if we can have food packaging without the use of plastic. It’s a complex challenge, but one we’re committed to addressing,” concludes Pondal.