Seaman Paper, a global manufacturer of environmentally sustainable specialty paper and packaging solutions, introduces Vela, a brand dedicated to creating paper alternatives to plastic packaging. Vela launches with a line of transparent paper bags designed to replace single-use plastic poly bags. Made of FSC-certified paper, Vela bags are recyclable, durable, and transparent, providing an efficient and sustainable alternative to plastic, including, among other uses, protecting apparel products throughout the supply chain.
“Sustainability is ingrained in Seaman Paper’s culture, and the Vela brand is the latest step in our mission to provide alternatives to – and eventually eliminate – single-use plastics,” said Seaman Paper CEO Ken Winterhalter. “Vela bags provide a practical, high-quality solution for the apparel and other industries that allows brands and others to promote sustainability without sacrificing efficiency.”
Vela bags are durable and weather-resistant to protect products from humidity, moisture, and dust in transit. Vela bags are also transparent, allowing for visual inspection of packaged products and manual barcode scanning. The resealable strip enables the bag to close and open multiple times.
Recognizing the importance of creating a plastic-free supply chain, prominent apparel manufacturers such as Faherty, Outerknown, and Mara Hoffman have committed to using Vela bags in their operations.
“As a brand that thinks daily about our environmental impact, the use of plastic poly bags has always been a pain point for us,” says Faherty Co-founder and Chief Impact Officer Kerry Docherty. “We are so thrilled that Vela invented a product that helps solve the plastic pollution problem of poly bags in the apparel industry.”
Echoing that sentiment, Outerknown Founder and 11-time World Surf League Champion Kelly Slater said, “Partnering with Vela on the first-ever FSC-certified tissue bag for garments is another innovative win for both Outerknown and the ocean, as we are deeply committed to eliminating the use of virgin plastic and ensuring we keep it out of our oceans.”
Sharing Outerknown’s stance, Mara Hoffman’s VP of sustainability, product, and strategy Dana Davis added, “We transitioned to Vela’s FSC-certified tissue bags because the infrastructure to properly recycle paper is much more developed than the infrastructure to recycle soft plastic. Our hope is that customers and stores will properly recycle these bags at their end-of-life in order to keep the material out of landfills.”
In conjunction with the introduction of Vela and its tissue bags, Seaman Paper has also launched www.vela.eco, a digital platform dedicated to providing education about the positive environmental and social impacts associated with removing plastic from various industries, as well as tracking the progress of other related initiatives.
