Manufacturer helps Pickfords with green move
REMOVALS giant Pickfords has become the first to use a new easily recyclable packing material invented by a British paper manufacturer to help businesses reliant on plastic bubble wrapping slash waste disposal costs.
Kes Packaging’s Planet Wrap is a layered composite of different weight papers and took the small family firm two years to develop.
Crucial to its success were modifications of the firm’s existing production line in Buckinghamshire, made possible after a £250,000 HSBC loan.
Slightly cheaper than the laminate plastic wrapping it aims to replace, 57 per cent of Planet Wrap is also made of recycled paper.
The wrapping currently used for removals contains components that are difficult and expensive to recycle so it ends up in landfill
Kes’s managing director and co-owner Kirk Smith, 47, said: “The wrapping currently used for removals contains components that are difficult and expensive to recycle so it ends up in landfill.
“Tighter environmental controls mean companies bear those costs. Those apply not just when transporting within the UK, but for overseas trade. Goods brought into the UK have packaging that companies here then have to dispose of. Planet Wrap though can go straight in the recycling bin with cardboard.
“After removals and storage firms, we will be targeting store chains like John Lewis and M&S. Planet Wrap’s bubble paper is breathable, which deals with another current hazard as items with polished surfaces and those prone to water damage are fully protected.”
The company, which has a £3.5 million turnover, hopes to build on its £500,000 domestic contract with Pickfords eventually supplying all its wrapping. Its general market launch is at a tradeshow in Silverstone later this month.
Pickfords managing director Russell Start said: “Planet Wrap is a great fit. It gives great protection, cost savings and achieves our environmental goals.”
- For more information, visit kespackaging.com