From this month, retailer B&Q is to replace all of its polystyrene packaging with easyGrow Teabag Technology compostable material.
The new packaging will be incorporated into 20 lines of bedding plants and will save 15 million polystyrene trays.
Previously, 22,500 cubic metres of polystyrene would be used to package the plants, and this non-degradable waste would most likely end up in landfill.
The new packaging uses a teabag-like system made of corn starch that is filled with the coconut derived material coir. As a result, it is fully biodegradable and plants can be planted into the ground with the packaging still around it, as it will break down in the soil.
It has also significantly reduced the amount of peat it uses in the soil around the plants.
B&Q CSR director Matt Sexton said: “As the largest garden retailer in the country, selling around 140 million bedding plants a year, we are keen to ensure that our horticulture products have the lowest environmental impact possible.
“easyGrow with Teabag Technology has allowed us to move from a non-recyclable packaging form to a recyclable one, to make a substantial move away from the use of peat and to reduce our transport footprint associated with moving our plants around the country.”
