Following Queen Elizabeth II’s passing in September, spectacular seas of bouquets poured into UK parks. But, as with any ocean on Earth, one particular problem surfaced amongst the beauty:
Plastic.
However well-intentioned the tributes were, the plastic-wrapped flowers posed a thorny issue. In the UK, it’s estimated that five million tonnes of plastic is used every year. Half of that is from single-use packaging – like the plastic wrap you find on most bouquets, for instance.
With hundreds of thousands of bouquets being left at park gates and royal residences, the plastic waste was left to the hands of volunteers, who spent hours removing wrappers from the bouquets. Despite Royal Parks asking mourners to remove the sleeves from floral tributes beforehand, workers were seen at Green Park (London), gathering huge piles of bin bags – full of plastic waste.
Why is plastic wrapping a problem?
The problem with plastic is there’s so much of it. And it can last centuries in landfill.
If it’s not in a landfill, plastic litters soils, rivers and oceans. 11 million metric tonnes of plastic waste enter the oceans every year, which harms the creatures that inhabit them. Plus, the toxins from plastic have ended up in the food chain – posing a risk for human health as well.
A 2019 landmark study found that single-use plastics are accelerating the climate emergency and need to be halted. Urgently.
Yet, when thinking about the environmental impact of plastic pollution, the flower industry might not be the first thing that pops into your mind. After all, isn’t this industry all about celebrating the natural blooms from our planet?
Single-use plastics in the flower industry
Bouquets are almost always wrapped in cellophane. Likewise, wholesalers tend to deliver flowers in plastic sleeves – which are thrown away before the flowers are arranged. Then, fresh plastic is used to wrap them up again.
These sleeves are necessary as they stop stems from getting broken. Despite the universal use of plastic in flowers, though, it’s not actually that good for the flowers; they can ‘sweat’ (like potatoes in a bag), get mouldy, and wilt more quickly.
That’s another reason why Royal Parks were asking mourners to remove the plastic wrapping before laying flowers for the Queen. So, they’d last the duration of national mourning.
The sheer amount of flowers laid for Her Majesty’s was beautiful. However, it also highlighted an important question: Why are flowers still wrapped in plastic sleeves? Until now, there hasn’t been an alternative.
But we’ve found the solution:
Compostable and biodegradable flower sleeves
At Dynamic Print, sustainability is at heart of what we do. We’re aware that the print & packaging industry has a big role to play in eco-friendly solutions, and we’re proud to pioneer the way to a better future.
That’s why we:
● Reuse, upcycle, recycle, freecycle or compost as much waste as is possible
● Sponsor local projects, including community litter picking
● Maintain a garden on our industrial estate, which is bursting with wildflowers
and habitats for different creatures
● Offer: recycled print, plantable seeded paper options, eco papers, and eco
signage.
Moreover, through establishing Eco Flower Supplies, we became the first company to offer high quality kraft paper bouquet sleeves in the UK.
Each sleeve is biodegradable, recyclable, compostable, and finished by hand in Norfolk. Our sleeves are made using die cut 90gsm kraft paper, and any CO2
produced during manufacturing is offset in a Carbon Capture scheme, through the Woodland Trust.
By providing eco-friendly solutions to large, commercial growers and artisanal florists nationwide, we’re striving to minimise waste by offering simple solutions.
Want to join us in reducing plastic waste? Visit our website – there, you’ll be able to browse our kraft.
