About our Packaging

Packaging Manifesto

To make our packaging as sustainable as possible, we will always:

1. Use only use what is necessary to prevent damages.
2. Choose recycled and recyclable materials.
3. Re-use as much as we can. Don’t be surprised if your order arrives in randomly branded box!
4. Make it easy to dispose of our packaging responsibly. Please see our Recycling Guide below to learn what you can recycle.
5. Undertake rigorous research to make sure we’re doing the right thing. Read what we have found out so far.
6. Strive to improve whenever we can. We know our packaging still isn’t perfect, and are always trying to do better.

Packaging Recycling Guide

Please remember your three Rs when reading this guide: reduce, reuse, recycle, in that order of priority. We’ve reduced our packaging as much as possible, using only as much as is necessary to get the product to you without damages or spillages.  We re-use as many packaging materials as we possibly can – including shredded paper from the office to pack boxes.  When something is recyclable it’s best to recycle it rather than to send it to landfill.  We know that you purchase from us because you want the best for your home and the planet and future generations. If you want to reduce the environmental impact of your purchase even further, please follow this guide.

If you are unsure about where you can recycle the packaging, please go to RecycleNow (UK) where you can simply enter the type of material you would like to recycle and your postcode/town and it will show you your nearest recycling points.

Packaging	Why we use it	Made from	What to do with it
Cardboard Boxes	To keep everything together.	Cardboard made from 100% recycled paper (if new) or re-used boxes.	Re-use if you can, else recycle if your local council will accept them.
Paint inserts	To stop paint tins from moving within the box.	Cardboard made from 100% recycled paper.	Recycle if your local council will accept them.
Shredded paper	Extra paint tin protection in case of bumps.	Previously used office paper.	Recycle if your local council will accept it.
Polystyrene	Extra paint tin protection in case of bumps.	6 – Polystyrene (PS). We never buy this in, but will re-use it on the rare occasion it arrives here.	Re-use if you can, else recycle if your local council will accept them.
Clear plastic bags	Paint tins: If the paint does get dropped the plastic bag will contain the spill.	4 - Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE)	Recycle if your local council will accept them. Some larger supermarkets also accept this type of plastic.
Paper bags	Baavets: To keep the natural bags clean and tidy	Paper made from 100% recycled paper	Re-use if you can, else recycle if your local council will accept them.
Courier bags	They help the Couriers deliver the order quickly.	4 - Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE)	Recycle if your local council will accept them. Some larger supermarkets also accept this type of plastic.
Clear tape	Keeps it all together. Can’t beat the strength of this tape especially for heavy boxes and on plastic bags.	7 – Other (Acrylic Polypropylene Tape)	Possibly will be taken out by the recycling process. However to be safe check with local council or remove from packaging.
Brown tape	To stop strapping from snagging or from being used as make-shift handles.	Paper	Recycle if your local council will accept it.
White Fragile/This Way Up tape	So the Couriers know to be extra careful.	7 – Other (Acrylic Polypropylene Tape) Watch this Space: We are moving this to a paper version.	Possibly will be taken out by the recycling process. However to be safe check with local council or remove from packaging before recycling.
White banding strap	Holds tins in boxes in case the box gets dropped in transit. Also used around some paint tins where Lid clips don’t fit.	5 - Polypropylene (PP)	Recycle if your local council will accept them.
Lid clips	Hold lids on tins just in case the tin gets badly bumped or dropped.	Galvanised Steel	Recycle if your local council will accept them.
Delivery note bag	To keep the Delivery Information Sheet dry and safe.	Paper one side, plastic the other.	Recycle the paper side please.
Padded Envelopes	To keep smaller items safe in the Post.	Paper outer, bubble wrap inner or re-used Envelopes.	Please open carefully and reuse. Else separate the layers and recycle if your local council will accept them.
Cord strap	To keep wobbly items safe on the pallet.	1 - PET	Recycle if your local council will accept them.
Cord strap buckles	Ties the Cord Strap tightly.	Galvanised Steel	Recycle if your local council will accept them.
Stretch wrap (Black or Clear Plastic)	To keep palleted items dry, dust free and to stop items from moving around in transit.	4 - Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE)	Recycle if your local council will accept it. Some larger supermarkets also accept this type of plastic.
Pallets	To make it easy to transport heavy or bulky items.	Wood. The pallet will have been re-used many times before it reaches you.	If you cannot re-use it yourself, some of our Couriers will take them back for re-use – so it's always worth asking them if you are around when it is delivered. Or please offer it to people local to you via Freecycle or similar group. Gardeners love a free pallet!
Bubble Wrap	We don't buy in bubble wrap but sometimes it is sent to us from customer returns etc. We do re-use it to pack smaller items when it is safe to do so.	4 - Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE)	Recycle if your local council will accept it. Some larger supermarkets also accept this type of plastic.

Packaging Research

We send out 100’s of parcels each day, a lot of which are liquids (paints, oils etc) .  It is of paramount importance to us that we remain a sustainable company no matter what cheaper alternatives there may be. It is our desire to offer great service with an environmentally friendly approach to everything that we do, including packaging.

It’s a balancing act. Sending liquids through busy, often automated, Courier Depots and in transit vans has a relatively high level of risk. Our packaging process has been developed over many years experience.

The mess if a tin were to get dropped, bumped or in anyway leak on it’s way on to you would be dire. The potential damage to your home and clothing when you open the package, the paint leaking all over the Courier van and other people’s post. The cost to us of getting a replacement tin to you. The time cost when you are expecting to decorate the next day. The environmental cost of having to do everything twice.

When it goes wrong, it tends to go very wrong. So we have done a great deal of research into ways to pack stuff well. In the few cases where a tin of paint is dropped in transit, the paint is usually contained within a plastic bag.

Reducing the amount of Plastic in our Packaging

Regular followers of our facebook page will know that members of our team are involved with the SAS Plastic Free Coastlines initiative. As a company we use plastic in our packaging and we are keen to find ways to reduce it. With that in mind we contacted to WRAP Cymru in December 2017 about whether we should start using more compostable or biodegradable plastics in our packaging. This is their reply:

"I spoke to my colleague and agreed that if the plastic in uncontaminated then the clients could re-cycle these, and perhaps your company could provide some guidance on how this could be done best, compostable bags are a tricky option as they are different form the ‘ordinary plastics’ and unless they are segregated out and the client has food/garden waste collection they are unlikely to be composted. For ‘domestic’ clients then some guidance on their receipt on how best to recycle the materials would be a first and cheap option? My colleagues comments were as follows:

"Sending an alternative compostable bag will make no difference to recyclability as it requires the customer to separately sort and compost the bag and it is likely that there will be contamination to the existing recycling schemes as the bags will be incorrectly placed in the plastic recycling stream. Domestic clients could take the packaging to their local supermarket (it can go in with the carrier bag recycling) or to their local CA site.

"A page on your website may also reinforce recycling options and what the clients could do as the opportunity to recycle does vary widely across the UK."

The take home message from WRAP was a page on our website about the materials and recycling options. So here it is!

Next steps

We are currently investigating thinner plastics bags that have equal strength to the ones we currently use (less plastic, same strength) and keeping our eye on oxo-degradable plastics as a possible alternative (although it is proving a difficult as there is lot of conflicting information on the web about it).

Continuous improvement

2019 this year we made the following improvements to the way we package and items...

• Single rolls of insulation are now put into a recycled cardboard box rather than a plastic bag. (Packs of 2 or 3 rolls are still sent out as in the packaging they arrive to us in).
• Baavet Duvets and Mattress Protectors are now sent out in a recycled paper bag rather than black plastic stretch wrap.

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How we are green blog post Feb 2018.