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Walkers Announces Recycling Scheme Following Crisp Packet Protest

Walkers Announces Recycling Scheme Following Crisp Packet Protest

The company will be rolling out a national recycling scheme in December

Rachael Grealish

Rachael Grealish

Good news, guys - looks like public protest does work. You'll already be familiar with the recent scenes that saw environmental campaigners sending their empty Walkers crisp packets back to PepsiCo - and thoroughly pissing off Royal Mail in the process.

Well, now the company has announced the launch of a nationwide recycling scheme for the packaging.

PA

Although the company had earlier pledged to make all its packaging 100 percent recyclable by 2025, it seems campaigners weren't happy with this, accusing the company of producing 7,000 non-recyclable crisp packets every minute - which, ultimately, is a lot of non-recyclable plastic.

Now the company has announced it will offer a free national recycling scheme where customers can either deposit empty packets at one of their public collection points or they can post them, for free, directly to TerraCycle.

Sorry Royal Mail, you'll still have to deal with them, but at least this time they'll be in an envelope.

Once they're collected, the empty packets with be cleaned, cut up and transformed into small plastic pellets that will then be used to make brand new products like benches or fence posts - nice one.

Walkers have even gone one better - they're not only offering up their recycling system for their own crisp packets, but they're offering it to a whole host of other brands and types. So if McCoys are more your thing, you're still covered.

The company says the scheme won't be rolled out fully until December 2018, but although that seems like a long while away yet, it's an awful lot better than the original date of 2025.

PA

Don't feel too guilty until then about indulging in your favourite savoury snack, as in their current form crisp packets are technically recyclable - the issue until now has been that they weren't being separated or collected for recycling.

Walkers' investment is aiming to make this a possibility for the first time since they first launched in 1948.

In a statement on the PepsiCo website Laure Cucuron, General Manager, TerraCycle Europe, said: "We're delighted to be working with Walkers to launch the UK's first nationwide recycling scheme for crisp packets.

"We hope other snacks manufacturers will follow suit, by investing in new ways to reduce the amount of packaging that goes to landfill and incineration."

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Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Food, walkers, trash isles