The other plastic used by VF and its brands – including the North Face, Timberland and Vans - will be reduced, originate from sustainable sources, and be designed for reuse or recyclability.

Jeannie Renné-Malone, vice-president of global sustainability for VF, said: “We recognise we play an important role as environmental stewards and can serve as a catalyst for industry movements that drive positive change.

“Our new global packaging goals are an example of how we can leverage our scale for significant impact. In just one year, we could potentially eliminate as many as 100 million polybags from our packaging waste.”

VF’s goals also include:

• All single-use plastics in product packaging will be 100% recycled, biobased content, or a combination of the two by 2023.

• All paper-based packaging will be recycled content (minimum 80%, where performance allows), third-party certified virgin content, or a combination of the two by 2023.

• VF will commit to leadership in industry coalitions and policy initiatives to build circular packaging infrastructure that will enable its 2025 pledge.
  
  

The group added that all non-essential, single-use plastics for which there is a viable alternative will be eliminated from VF’s offices, throughout its direct operations, and from all company-sponsored events by 2023; and all VF-owned distribution centres will be zero-waste by April 1, 2021.

Photo credit: The North Face