100% Recycled Poly Bags

A poly bag is a type of packaging made of soft, thin, clear, flexible plastic film. Poly bags are often used as an inner packaging or wholesale solution to separate goods and keep items clean. You can find these bags with no print, or pre-printed with a suffocation warning which is required by many fulfillment centers.

Poly bags are recyclable with thin film (#2 and #4 stretch film plastics). Many consumers have access to drop-off thin film recycling at local grocery stores. Curbside recycling is not widely available for this material.

The best way to determine what size bag you’ll need is to layout the items you will be shipping on a table and measure the imaginary bounding box it would fit in. The two dimensions of your bag would need to exceed the largest two dimensions of your bounding box plus a little extra room to compensate for the bag's expansion when it’s filled.

Once you have what you think is the perfect sized bag, order a complimentary sample to test them. One of the worst feelings in the world is ordering everything you need to start shipping your product and finding out that what you thought was perfect is actually too small to ship your items. We want to avoid any issues with our bags, so we definitely encourage people to use our samples!

As a frame of reference, we’ve put together a table of common items that are shipped in our bags and listed the best size to ship them.

Our suffocation warnings meet Amazon FBA and state requirements. The suffocation warning is multilingual (English/Spanish/French) and is as follows:

WARNING: To avoid danger of suffocation, keep this plastic bag away from babies and children. Do not use this bag in cribs, beds, carriages, or play pens. This bag is not a toy.

The font size for the warning is as follows:

4x5" and 6x8" bags: 10pt
7.5x10", 9x12" and 10.5x14" bags: 12pt
12x18" bag: 14pt
18x24" bag: 18pt

There are three reasons a business might want or need to use clear bags.

A requirement by their fulfillment center: More and more eCommerce businesses utilize third-party fulfillment houses that store their products and fulfill the orders they receive. Amazon FBA is the most ubiquitous example of this type of operation. Most require that companies send their products individually packaged, and companies must individually wrap apparel in clear bags. For the fulfillment center, this ensures that products remain clean and protected while they are stored, making the process of finding, grabbing, and packing orders easier for their staff. Many fulfillment centers also require that companies use clear bags with suffocation warnings which is a requirement in several states.

To protect apparel and other goods across the supply chain, from factories to end consumers: Apparel manufacturers and factories will often individually wrap garments in clear plastic bags. These bags are then placed in shipping boxes and sent to the company’s distribution center or fulfillment center. Why? Mainly for protection and more accurate quality assurance and sorting. If an apparel company receives goods in usable clear bags, it often makes sense for them to use these same clear bags when shipping products out for added product protection in transit.

In-transit inner protection from fulfillment centers to end consumers: Some companies manufacture and fulfill in-house but still use clear bags because they believe their products’ protection is essential. This mindset is often the case for companies that produce prints and other art or apparel brands that ship in paper-based packaging. A layer of protection using clear bags for art prints ensures the goods are protected from dust and weather damage. It is important to note that if even a small percentage of goods are damaged in transit, the ecological impact of throwing the goods away or sending them back to the manufacturer for repair is much worse than the impact of the poly bags. And, if you are an artist that puts tremendous effort into producing your piece, you know that its damage can’t begin to be measured in only cost and environmental impact.

At this time, we do not offer this style of clear bag. Our clear bags are only made with the seal on the upper flap, which is strongly preferred by fulfillment operations at the brands we work with.

We know that some companies, especially brands selling art and prints, prefer bags with the self-seal on the bag itself to avoid any issues of their art adhering to the adhesive when it is removed from the bag by consumers. While we don’t offer this as an option, we have received a lot of feedback from brands that - while this is a concern of theirs - ultimately, it is not an issue that their customers experience.

Hopefully, you find that the current construction works well for you! If not, please email us at hello@ecoenclose.com with your feedback, which will help us develop our short and long-term roadmap of product improvements.

For brands looking for a more eco-friendly alternative to the standard poly bag, our 100% recycled flap & seals are an ideal option. They are 100% recycled, thin film recyclable, and manufactured in the USA. These features are a big step in the right direction toward our ultimate vision of circularity, in which all packaging is made from packaging. Learn more about why recycled content matters.

Our sustainable alternatives to poly bags provides a detailed overview of the different options to consider, with tips on how to find the right approach for your unique business and operational requirement. Our alternatives include paper options, including Glassine Bags and Kraft Bag & Seals, andr oll wrap options, such as hemp twine or EcoBands, or Belly Bands to secure rolled-up apparel. When shipped from a factory to the distribution center, these are typically master-cased in a protective way.

Note that there are also several emerging bioplastic options on the market. Most bioplastic-based bags are either compostable in an industrial facility or must be landfilled if they are not certified. There are also degradable plastic alternatives. Both of these should - at this time - be avoided.

Traditional Compostable Bioplastic: This bioplastic uses all virgin materials often produced through intensive, polluting agriculture. They aren’t recyclable but are usually recycled, potentially contaminating the recycling stream. They do not biodegrade in the ocean, so they do not help the marine plastic pollution crisis. They do not biodegrade in landfill and behave as any traditional plastic would in that environment. And, when they end up composted, they are not necessarily positive additions to a compost heap. A rich, healthy compost heap is made with ample decomposing plants and food. A small amount of bioplastic is acceptable, but too much volume leads to lower quality and less healthy compost, which is worse for the environment and harder for these facilities to sell.

Degradable Plastic: This mateiral is an ecological hazard. Some degradable plastic is designed to break down rapidly into microplastics in an open environment. Other degradable plastic is designed to break down in a landfill, which causes methane production, one of the most significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. It is important to remember that when things end up in the landfill, the optimal situation is that this garbage remains stable and does not break down.

It is important to note that a developing set of bioplastic options are emerging that are recyclable with traditional plastic. Additionally, research and development are being conducted to develop bioplastic bags that dissolve in water. These are exciting progressions in the development of bioplastic technology and should be evaluated and compared to recycled plastic clear bags when they become more readily available.

Yes - Read our Guide to Sustainable Inner Packaging.

Yes - For any large enterprise brands looking for high-volume shipments of 100% recycled clear bags to their Asian factories, please reach out at hello@ecoenclose.com. Depending on your needs, we may manufacture your bags in Asia to maximize resource and cost efficiency for your needs.

Yes - We can make these bags with a bottom gusset. Minimum order quantities range based on bag dimensions but are generally around 25,000 units.

No - Degradable and biodegradable plastic (including bioplastic) do not meet our strict framework and sustainability standards because they are typically worse for the planet than our options and often worse for the planet than a standard virgin clear bag.

Learn More:

Guide to Inner Packaging
Bioplastics for eCommerce Packaging
The Case Against Degradable Plastic Packaging