US-based gardening brand Back to the Roots has announced its plans to transition to 100% post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic for its soil products packaging.

The certified circular bags will be introduced for Back to the Roots’ Organic Potting Mix product range and will be rolled out in 2024.

The brand claimed that it will be the first-ever 100% PCR plastic soil packaging to be rolled out in the gardening industry.

The new packaging for Back to the Roots is being developed in partnership with American flexible packaging and labels manufacturer ProAmpac.

For this development, the gardening brand has (with the help of ProAmpac) already received certification for the recycled material under the Global Institute of Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS programme.

ProAmpac product manager Gary Koellhoffer said: “ProAmpac, as an innovator of sustainability and a circular economy in material usage, is proud to leverage our ISCC-certified supply chain to offer advanced recycled PCR content (cPCR).

“Ensuring the technical and durability needs that outdoor environments require, cPCR performs at the same high level as virgin resin-based film.

“This launch sets the trend, pushing more brands across the industry to embrace cPCR and work towards greater sustainability in packaging.”

Back to the Roots says it has been contributing to driving sustainability in the gardening sector for more than a decade.

Back to the Roots co-founder and co-CEO Nikhil Arora said: “This launch is a huge step for the soil industry towards getting better and helping reduce hundreds of millions of pounds of virgin plastic being used each year.

“Acknowledging the fact that only 5% of all plastic ends up being recycled and soil packaging is traditionally landfilled, we challenged ourselves on how to try to make our bags out of recycled materials to start the road towards a circular plastic economy.”