Eco startup Kind Bag celebrates saving 3.5 million plastic bottles From landfill

London based sustainable start-up Kind Bag, has announced a strong second year of growth, turning over £651,000 (+39 per cent YOY) and recycling over 3.5 million used plastic bottles in the process.

Growth was fuelled by UK online sales and a growing export market, which saw new distribution channels open up in the US, Australia and to European countries including Spain, Italy and Germany with the brand now exporting to over 25 countries worldwide.

Kind Bag is available in the UK from kindbag.co, Anthropologie, Oxfam, Selfridges, Waterstones and independent retailers nationwide.

Kind Bag has been specially developed to reduce single-use plastic, recycling old plastic bottles to create each one of its design-led, eco-friendly bags. Lightweight, durable and water resistant, each Kind Bag is created using a process that transforms used plastic bottles into a practical, durable fabric called RPET (Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate).

The 100 per cent RPET bags are made using old plastic bottles originally destined for the ocean and landfill sites that end up in waste collection centres in Asia.

In the past year, the brand’s portfolio has expanded from reusable shoppers to include backpacks and included a successful collaboration with William Morris. For 2022, the female-owned and female-run business has launched a series championing female artists, kicking off with a trio of bags featuring prints designed by artist and illustrator,

Conscious consumerism is here to stay. 32 per cent of UK consumers are engaged in adopting a more sustainable lifestyle. In line with this, Kind Bag founder, Maria Rodriguez, expects sales to double over the coming year.

Growing up close to the Canary Island’s beautiful beaches, 31-year-old Rodriguez (who has lived in London since 2015) developed an early appreciation of the natural world. Initially a career in law beckoned, but following a stint of travelling around Asia, her eyes were opened to the effects of plastic pollution.

Maria says, “here at Kind Bag, we are motivated by a passion to protect our environment. Our already recycled, recyclable products go some way to eliminate the plastic waste that exists in society today. I’m beyond thrilled to have recycled over 3.5 million plastic bottles in only two years of Kind Bag being on the market.”

Rodriguez continues, “here at Kind Bag we have a completely sustainable and ethical production process. Everything from the product itself and the ink used, through to the packaging has been carefully chosen with the planet in mind.”