Most of this ends up in a landfill, which has been described as ‘the worst environmental option’ for much of the waste produced in this country. Even biodegradable waste is extrememly harmful as it generates methane, a potent greenhouse gas – 21 times more potent than CO2¹. And of course a vast number of products that are sent to landfil do not biodegrade at all.

To give an example, manmade polymeric fibres in clothing do not readily degrade. The current ‘fast fashion’ climate is producing an ever-increasing amount of poor quality clothing that is worn once and then thrown away. A large amount of these clothes will be made from non-biodegradable fibres, which will clog up landfills for years and years to come. Seventy-four percent of the clothes and textiles we throw away goes to landfill – that’s some 1.8m tonnes of waste. Another 13% are incinerated and currently only 13% are recovered or recycled².

Taking action on waste is essential since we are consuming natural resources at an unsustainable rate and contributing unnecessarily to climate change. Valuable natural resources are being used up to make new products which are later disposed of. As this information comes to light, more people are thinking about where their products have come from, how to dispose of them once they are no longer required and how they can ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’.

Recycling in the UK already saves the equivalent in greenhouse gas emissions of taking 3.5m cars off our roads. That is because virgin materials that would otherwise be used in production are conserved and the waste recycled is not being sent to landfill³. At Epona, we have made changes to try and decrease the amount of energy we use and to reduce, reuse and recycle our packaging. Wherever possible, we ship our products to the UK instead of flying them over.We’ve reduced the amount of plastic packaging used and package items in packs of 10 instead of individually wrapping each garment.We also reuse boxes to send orders out to customers and recycle any leftover, unusable ones. In our office, we also use ‘green energy’ to help reduce our carbon footprint.

However, waste reduction, energy efficiency and recycling is a real challenge to the promotional industry. By its nature, the industry is reliant on disposable, quickly produced items that are not always made to last, but more often to promote a particular event or function. In spite of this, an increasing number of companies are purchasing more recycled products, often to fulfil a CSR quota or to improve the environmental credentials of the organisation, which is encouraging promotional companies to offer more ethical alternatives for their customers. For recycling to really work, there needs to be a ‘recycling loop’ where recycled products are purchased as well as recycling our own domestic and office waste.

Public awareness of these issues is being raised by high profile campaigns such as The Big Recycle campaign, launched in June 2007, which encourages more people to recycle and there has also been a recent announcement that public recycle bins will be readily available throughout London. There is also a responsibility of businesses to lead the way and get involved. ‘Producer Responsibility’ is a UK policy tool aimed at ensuring that businesses who place products on the market take responsibility for products once they have reached the end of their life. EC Directives have been put in place with the aim of achieving a more sustainable approach to resource use and giving producers incentives to reduce the quantity of waste going to landfill, by diverting end of life products to re-use, recycling or other forms of recovery⁴.

So, how has all this affected the promotional industry? A number of ‘eco’ promotions websites that offer a whole range of recycled goods have sprung up, including:

www.ecoincentives.co.uk,
www.ecopromogifts.co.uk,
www.recycledbusinessgifts.co.uk,
www.bluefishpromotions.co.uk 

Just a selection of items that are available are: conference folders, personal organisers and coasters made from recycled leather, recycled pens, desktop accessories, clocks and calculators, caps and clothing for promotions.

The high usage of bags, plastic and non-plastic, in the promotional industry has been affected by mounting pressure to reduce and eventually eliminate the use of disposable plastic bags. The Bag for Life concept has led to an increased number of cotton and ‘eco’ shopping bags being produced by companies such as Westford Mill and Turtle Bags. Affordable, reusable, eco-friendly alternatives to the plastic bag include fully biodegradable, Organic, Fairtrade and unbleached cotton, recycled materials, and sustainable fabrics like jute or hemp. Eco-incentives also offers a number of biodegradable plastic bags as well as point of sale items made from recycled polythene.

Downcycling is a way of recycling a material into a material of lesser quality. For example, when plastics are recycled they are turned into a lower grade quality plastic⁵. This plastic can then be used to make other products. Several companies now offer garments such as t-shirts, fleeces and caps that are made from 50% recycled plastic bottles and 50% recycled cotton.

Recycling and purchasing recycled products is not just good for the environment, but can also help an organisation to give something back and improve their ethical CSR policy. It seems that more companies are adopting new business models that don’t just ‘take, make and waste’ but instead consider new, innovative ways to create goods with an ecological, social and economic value and in addition, how to dispose of these products once they are no longer required.

¹ DEFRA website
² Well Dressed?
³ DEFRA website
⁴ DEFRA website
⁵ This term was coined by William McDonough and Michael Braungart in the book Cradle To Cradle: Remaking The Way We Make Things.

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