Responsible Packaging Monitor

03/06/2010

We have a mission currently which is to understand how we can improve on recycling habits within the UK. Clearly we have come a long way with pressures on land fill doing more to drive the need to get local councils to encourage recycling but we still have a long way to go to catch up with some of our European neighbours where washing packaging and distributing between bins is now second nature to most.

Our own research highlighted two things:

1. make it simple for people to recycle and they will - neighbourhoods over a short space of time recycle more if they have street side collections provided;
2. consumers now are really trying to do the right thing and recycle in the right way but are often compromised by the difficulty in multi-material packaging having to be treated in different ways.

So always on the look out for bright ideas we showcase the 100% compostable coffee cup which originates in Australia. PLAnet cups are not just made using forest-friendly paper, they're also lined with biofilm instead of petroleum-based plastic. That biofilm is made from renewable plant material; in part as a result, the cups comply with the harmonised European standard EN 13432 and are 100 percent compostable in commercial facilities.

All we need to do then is find a way to collect them all together and separate to other rubbish in public locations. Getting Starbucks; Costa and Cafe Nero to comply as well would be a great next step!