Our sustainability brand
recycling:bags.
Bags with a second life.
Under the ‘recycling:bags’ banner, we bring together everything that makes bags sustainable: upcycling using your used materials, and recycled fabrics such as rPET. We also offer advice that clearly explains what is truly sustainable and what merely appears to be so.
♺ Unique upcycled pieces
♺ Recycled fabrics
♺ A story worth telling
100% RECYCLED MATERIALS01 · The idea
From advertising waste to brand ambassador.
What was proudly displayed on a large-format poster yesterday will be on your laptop tomorrow. We give disused banners, truck tarpaulins and construction hoarding netting a new lease of life as one-of-a-kind bags with a visible history.
Upcycling instead of waste
Discarded banners and tarpaulins are turned into valuable new material.
Made in the EU
Handcrafted under fair conditions, with short supply chains and high quality.
Always one of a kind
No two bags are alike. Each one has its own story.
02 · The problem
What happens to the banner after the campaign?
Once the campaign is over, the advertising banner quickly becomes a cost factor. Yet it still contains plenty of valuable material.
Hazardous waste
PVC tarpaulins are classified as hazardous waste, and their disposal is strictly regulated.
Running costs
Disposal and storage incur costs year after year.
Compliance costs
Records and documentation take up time and resources.
Upcycling turns a cost into a product that promotes your brand.
03 · How an upcycling project works
From old banner to new bag.
In four steps, your old banner is transformed into a finished, one-of-a-kind bag – from initial consultation right through to delivery.
1
Select product and features
We’ll advise you and put together a suitable quote.
2
Deliver materials
We’d be happy to arrange for your equipment to be collected.
3
Production
Cleaning, cutting and sewing. Every bag is one of a kind.
4
Delivery of your one-of-a-kind items
Delivery by parcel service or haulage contractor.
04 · Two ways to create a sustainable bag
Made from your own material – or from recycled.
A · Upcycling
Your materials, your story.
Banners, tarpaulins, workwear: we turn the things you’d normally throw away into one-of-a-kind bags with a visible origin. The strongest statement on sustainability that a promotional item can make.
Go to recyclingbags.de ↗
B · Recycled fabrics
rPET & Co., sustainable mass production.
For larger production runs with consistent quality: fabric made from recycled PET bottles and rPET felt: scalable, certifiable and suitable for any type of bag.
View materials →
05 · Models
All Recyclingbags models.
Shoulder bags, backpacks, shopping bags, cooler bags: over 80 designs made from recycled and upcycled materials. See the full range at recyclingbags.de.
Best Practice · Recycling Bags
Crafted from originals – 150 bags made from MAN tarpaulins
Around 180 square metres of disused tarpaulins were turned into 150 numbered bags in the pro:cargo range for MAN ProfiDrive, each one unique.
Best Practice · Recycling Bags
No Lay’s, no game – 800 backpacks made from advertising banners
Around 367 square metres of disused advertising banners were turned into 800 pro:rolltop backpacks – upcycling rather than disposal, each one unique.
Best Practice · Recycling Bags
From the exhibition stand to hand luggage – 1,500 cases for Hexagon
Around 300 square metres of stand materials from a trade fair exhibition were transformed into 1,500 cases in the pro:etui V2 model, each one unique, each with a certificate of origin on the label.
Best Practice · Recycling Bags
Zero Waste for the holiday season – 200 luggage tags for Jetschke
Around 15 square metres of surplus banner fabric from a trade fair stand were used to create 200 pro:luggage luggage tags, each one unique.
Best Practice · Recycling Bags
From giant poster to everyday companion – 1,000 courier backpacks for DEVK
Around 900 square metres of campaign banners from the DEVK employer campaign were turned into 1,000 pro:Kurier backpacks, each one unique and each one sequentially numbered.
Best Practice · Recycling Bags
Iconic Ad Bags – 140 bags made from Sixt campaign banners
A new lease of life for Sixt’s famous advertising campaign designs: 52 square metres of used advertising banners have been transformed into a collection of 140 backpacks, shopping bags, gym bags and bum bags, each one a unique piece.
Best Practice · Recycling Bags
Indestructible – 200 courier backpacks made from Cisco advertising banners
Ten-metre-high Cisco advertising banners were turned into 480 square metres of tarpaulin material, which was then used to make 200 pro:Kurier backpacks. Sturdy, waterproof – and each one is unique.
Best Practice · Recycling Bags
From a CSD banner to a lifestyle item – 200 one-off pieces for Deloitte
Instead of disposing of its CSD banners, Deloitte had them turned into 200 unique bags: the pro:ocean V2 duffel bag and the pro:culture V2 pouch – colourful, sustainable and steeped in history.
Got material with a history?
Send us a photo. We’ll let you know within 24 hours what we can do with it.