JYSK, an international home furnishing retailer, has announced a significant reduction in plastic usage by shifting to cardboard bellybands for packaging its ready-made curtains.  

This initiative is part of the company's strategic efforts to minimise plastic waste and is expected to result in an annual saving of approximately 78 tonnes (t) of plastic. 

Over the last couple of years, the retailer has been progressively replacing plastic packaging with cardboard across various product lines, including bed linen, sheets, and pillowcases.  

The latest move to cardboard bellybands for curtains marks another step towards sustainability.  

The packaging change has been implemented on all curtain subgroups globally across all JYSK stores, excluding string curtains. 

JYSK category buyer for window dressing Lene Østerberg said: "The primary reason for this change is to reduce our use of plastic, and 78 tonnes is quite a significant reduction.  

“With the new packaging, you also see the colours of the products more clearly, which attracts more attention. The feedback from our colleagues in the stores is that it looks nice and gives a more consistent impression along with the bellyband on other product groups." 

Customers may still encounter the previous plastic packaging until the existing stock is depleted, the company said.  

Meanwhile, JYSK is exploring ways to optimise packaging for its blinds.  

In April this year, the company scrapped top plastic on its pallets, which contributed to saving 920,000kg of plastic annually. 

The retailer, which is part of Lars Larsen Group, operates more than 3,400 stores and webshops in 48 countries.  

It employs approximately 31,000 staff members.