John Lewis biodegradable PE packs are ‘UK first’

30 November 2012


UK retail group John Lewis is replacing the conventional PE wrappers it uses for bed linen and some school wear items with a new type of packaging that can biodegrade, even in a landfill environment.

John Lewis Partnership expects to sell more than three million items of bed linen in this type of bag annually, so this initiative has the potential, the company says, to have “a significant positive environmental impact”.

The additives used in the new polyethylene packaging are said to work by encouraging naturally occurring micro-organisms in soil to biodegrade the material without leaving any harmful by-products.

The resulting products of the process are water, biogas and humus – as required, in accordance with international standards, to be beneficial to soil.

Not dependent upon the presence of either light or heat, the degradation process is designed to occur wherever the polyethylene is buried, in either aerobic or anaerobic conditions, and within a timeframe of between 5 and 15 years.

John Lewis packaging design and production manager Mark Gallen says: “We work hard to reduce the environmental impact of our packaging and have already replaced PVC packaging with recyclable polyethylene.”

In the UK, Gallen adds, some recycling centres do accept traditional plastic bags for recycling, but kerbside collection is not common for this type of plastic, resulting in consumers putting most of it in the bin.

“Until recycling facilities are more widely available, most people will throw the packaging away,” he says.

“We know that our customers want to reduce their environmental impact, and this new material makes it easy for them to do this.”

John Lewis plans to extend the product lines using this packaging to own-brand ready-made curtains next year.

Following an initial six months of exclusive use, the company says it will make the technology behind the new packaging available to other retailers, so that their consumers can benefit from Gallen’s research.


John Lewis bed linen range - now with biodegradable PE wrappers



Privacy Policy
We have updated our privacy policy. In the latest update it explains what cookies are and how we use them on our site. To learn more about cookies and their benefits, please view our privacy policy. Please be aware that parts of this site will not function correctly if you disable cookies. By continuing to use this site, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with our privacy policy unless you have disabled them.