Royal Mail: Stop Publishing Net Packages Without Envelopes

Royal Mail has stepped into a row between impeccable Walkers and impeccable creators – urging people to post empty packages to put them in envelopes.

Activists have asked people to post non-recyclable plastic bags and flood Walkers' social media with photos of us to make them appear in the message.

Royal Mail is obliged by law to deliver the bags to the freepost address of Walkers.

But without envelopes, they can not go through the machines and have to be sorted by hand, causing delays.

A spokesman for Royal Mail said: "We strongly encourage customers to post nothing in the mailing system that is not properly packaged.

"Crunchy packages can not go through machines, they are not normal mail items, so my hard working colleagues need to manually sort them, which adds time."

People took their own selfies by posting crisp packages and putting them on social media with the #PacketInWalkers hashtag.

This follows a 38 Degrees petition calling on Walkers to recycle their packages.

Cathy Warren, a 38 Degrees activist, said, "Royal Mail has asked people to use envelopes when publishing crisp packages and we will update the thousands of Walkers customers who attend.

"Across the country, people are telling Walkers to be interested in plastic waste.

"Walkers produce 7,000 incredible plastic bags per minute that they do not pay a penny for cleaning, they have to listen to their customers and act now."

Royal Mail has reported processing about 30 net packages so far.

Are the alternatives better?

Susan Selke, director of the School of Packaging at Michigan State University, said that chips needed a very good barrier to oxygen because of their high fat content and that other solutions were needed. Packaging could have a greater environmental impact.

"Looking at the Walkers website, it looks like their packaging is similar to that used for most snack foods," she said.

Such products are commonly packaged in metallized PET or metallized PP, both metallized films.

"Because of their fat content and rancidity potential, fleas [crisps] need a good barrier against oxygen, "said Dr. Selke.

"The old alternative was paper or plastic laminated on aluminum foil, usually lined with a layer of plastic for heat sealing, which would not be accepted for recycling in most cases, impacts, for a variety of reasons, so that would not be an improvement. "

She said that stiffer packages could be used to provide a good barrier against oxygen, but this would translate into greater use of materials.

"Several studies have shown that most of the environmental impact is on production, not disposal, so the overall environmental impact would likely increase with these alternatives, even as recycling increases," said Dr. Selke. .

Walkers said its packaging was designed to keep its snacks fresh and prevent food waste.

The Leicester-based crisp maker confirmed that he had started receiving crisp packages and said he would use them "for research".

"We recognize the efforts made to bring the problem of packaging waste to our attention," added a spokesman.

"The returned packages will be used in our research because we are working towards our commitment to improve the recyclability of our packaging."

He is committed to making all his packaging 100% recyclable, compostable or biodegradable by 2025.

He drives compostable packaging in the United States, India and Chile.