We’ve collected nearly 600 empty crisp packets from our customers over the last year. That’s 36% of the packets we’ve sold. But what happens to your crisp packets once you put them back in your delivery box?
We were determined from the start that Local Box would do all it could to reduce waste in packaging and food supply. We were concerned about crisp packets, which need special facilities in order to separate the plastic and aluminium in the wrapper and then recycle the components, so they usually end up in landfill for decades. Standard, council recycling centres don’t have the facilities required, which is where TerraCycle comes in.
TerraCycle is an international company that works out ways to reclaim and recycle packaging that otherwise ends up in landfill. TerraCycle relies on local volunteer groups to set up drop-off points and collect different types of packaging to be recycled. The volunteers then post the collected waste to TerraCycle, who can then send it to special facilities to be recycled properly.
We gather up all the crisp packets from customer returns and take them to East Belfast TerraCycle drop-off every 3 months. The volunteers add our crisp packets to everyone else’s and these then get sent to England to be sorted by TerraCycle at a Material Recovery Facility.
The empty crisp packets are shredded and then melted, and reformatted into pellets, flakes, or a powder format. This can then be used to make plastic products as such, benches, watering cans, plant pots, and storage boxes!
Our delivery boxes are made from recycled plastic and made in the UK, so there’s a very good chance that the crisp packets we collect are being turned into our delivery boxes!
You can do TerraCycle collecting yourself at home and drop off at your local scheme; you can collect loads of items like toothpaste tubes; pens; pet food pouches… There is also a rewards system for charities and community organisations so every kilogram of crisp packets is donating to good local causes too.
We’re proud that our crisp returns have caught on and we’d like to get back even more of them! Make sure the other people in your house know not to stick them in the bin; even if they’re ripped they can still be recycled so stick them back in your box.
