This is rubbish.
Pringles and Lucozade are among the worst culprits when it comes to packaging that’s impossible to recycle. The two companies’ habit of mixing materials in the same container has riled up the Recycling Association, who branded them the ‘villains’ of the packaging world.
Brands rely on strong consumer recognition to sell their product, like the iconic Pringles tube. But right now, this is coming at the price of the planet.
We all make the effort to put our rubbish in the right bins, reduce waste and recycle as much as we can. Now let’s make sure corporations are doing their bit too -- starting with Pringles and Lucozade.
Pringles and Lucozade: change your packaging to make it easy to recycle!
Pringles’ packaging is distinctive -- with its tube design and metal base, plastic cap and tear-off foil lid. But it’s made from so many different materials it’s been branded a nightmare, impossible to separate into parts in order to recycle efficiently.
And the Lucozade Sport packaging is little better. While the bottle itself may be recyclable, it’s enclosed in a sleeve made from a different kind of plastic so the whole thing is often discarded.
Mr Ellin, of the Recycling Association, said: “This bottle is so confusing to computer scanners that it has to be picked by hand off the recycling conveyor. Then it often just gets chucked away.”
The companies have already been forced to speak on the issue. If we push now, we can pressure them to ditch the poor design altogether and avoid the PR disaster they fear.
When Coca Cola pushed back against programmes to promote recycling, over 110,000 SumOfUs members like you and me came together to let them know what we thought. Now let’s come together again and show Pringles and Lucozade that we want them to redesign their packaging -- for the good of the planet.
Pringles and Lucozade: redesign your packaging. It’s for the good of the planet!
More information
BBC News. 20 May 2017.