Walkers facing boycott over crisp bags that can’t be recycled
CAMPAIGNERS have threatened to organise a boycott of Walkers crisps because it still uses plastic packs that cannot be recycled.
The company produces 11million of the bags a day – 7,000 a minute – at its Leicester factory and they are one of the main sources of persistent litter.
A 30yearold Walkers bag was found on a beach in Cornwall earlier this year, while others dating back 25 years were picked up in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire.
The packs are made from layers of polypropylene and aluminium that cannot be separated for recycling so must be burnt or buried in landfill, where they could take more than 100 years to degrade.
Walkers says it will have alternatives by 2025 but antiwaste campaigners say this is not good enough and have set up a petition that has collected almost 300,000 signatures from people who say the company should banish the bags more quickly.
They say Walkers, part of the giant PepsiCo food and drink corporation, will produce 28billion plastic packets between now and 2025, harming the environment and wildlife.
Campaigners have contacted the company and its TV brand ambassador, Gary Lineker, threatening a boycott of Walkers crisps unless it switches to bags that can be recycled.
The campaign group 38 Degrees has been using vans carrying protest posters outside the company’s factory in Leices ter and head office in Reading this week. And today, petition organiser Geraint Ashcroft, from Cardiff, is due to meet PepsiCo executives about the issue.
He said: ‘I’ve been shocked by headlines showing packets found intact after 30 years. It has a horrific effect on our environment.
‘It’s time Walkers becomes part of the solution rather than part of the problem.’
Lorna Greenwood, of 38 Degrees, said: ‘Big companies like Walkers aren’t taking responsibility for the astounding amount of damaging plastic waste they are producing.
‘Walkers’ promise to deal with plastic packets by 2025 is woefully inadequate. By that time, they will have produced a breathtaking amount of waste without paying a penny to clean it up.
‘Walkers need to ditch their plastic packaging now, instead of in seven years.’
PepsiCo said: ‘We are committed to achieving 100 per cent recyclable, compostable or biodegradable packaging by 2025.
‘We have a number of initiatives to reduce the amount of packaging we use and we’re examining the use of different packaging materials. We are also investing in research… to improve the recyclability of our packs.’