Reusable gift-wrap made from recycled plastic bottles launched for Christmas 2019
Posted by Thomas Parker on 15th Oct 2019
Reusable gift-wrap made from recycled plastic bottles launched for Christmas 2019
By Thomas Parker 30 Sep 2019
Sustainable gift-wrap producer Wrag Wrap will use more than 12 recycled plastic bottles to create each sheet of its festive wrapping
Wrag Wrap has developed 11 new designs for the Christmas period (Credit: Pixabay)
Christmas maybe several months away, but that hasn’t stopped start-up Wrag Wrap commencing festivities by launching a new range of reusable gift-wraps made from recycled plastic bottles.
Each one of the company’s reversible crackle wraps will be made from at least 12 recycled plastic bottles.
Based on an average of eight presents per user, the UK-based firm estimates one wrap could save more than 1,000 metres of traditional single-use wrapping in its lifetime.
Wrag Wrap co-founder Nicky Rajska said: “People are increasingly rejecting products that are single-use.
“Our eco Christmas gift-wrap is designed to be reused for a lifetime and allows our customers to indulge in the tradition and celebration of giving gifts, whilst not creating any more unnecessary waste and helping tackle our global plastic waste problem.
“These new prints are designed to revel in the act of giving and receiving gifts and the joy that the tradition spreads.”
Eleven new designs from Wrag Wrap for the Autumn/Winter 2019
The firm’s new collection of wraps is made up of eleven double-sided designs, with a festive theme and all-purpose option on each.
The eleventh design is in support of the recent climate strike and uses scientist Ed Hawkins’ Warming Stripes graphics.
The design includes a series of coloured strips, chronologically ordered showing the long-term temperature shifts of the planet from 1850 to 2017.
All the profits from sale of these wraps will go to climate charities.
Wrag Wrap’s other co-founder Louise Oldrige, said: “Reusing your gift-wrap allows memories to travel with it.
“Memories of previous celebrations, family gatherings and presents given.
“This nostalgia makes the wrap more treasured over time.”
More than 100 million rolls of wrapping paper used during Christmas in the UK
Research commissioned in 2017 by GP Batteries found people in the UK use more than 100 million rolls of wrapping paper over the Christmas period.
The poll of 2,000 adults also found the country throws away more than 100 million blacks bin bags of packaging from toys and gifts.
A spokesperson for GP Batteries said: “Christmas is a time of great celebration, but this can result in a huge amount of waste — much of which we don’t always do the right things with.
“It seems many [people] don’t worry about the amount of their Christmas produce that ends up in the bin, despite the nation as a whole trying to do all we can to cut down on waste at other times of the year.
“Reusing things, such as Christmas cards or wrapping paper, or using rechargeable batteries are small things to most people, but will drastically reduce the amount you end up throwing away.”
Other research estimate 50,000 trees are used to make the 8,250 tonnes of wrapping paper consumed over the course of the festive period.
Due to the cheaper types of fibre traditionally used in wrapping paper, it’s difficult to recycle, alongside the fact it’s often dyed and laminated and could contain non-paper additives such as gold and silver colouring, glitter and plastics.