All Hovis® bread bags are 100% recyclable through the plastic bag collection points at most major retailers’ stores. Recently, Hovis® has started rolling out clearer recycling labels on packs to encourage more people to dispose of their bread bags correctly.
However, research commissioned by Hovis® suggests that a third (31%) of people continue to find recycling challenging as they are unsure of what they can recycle. This combined with figures from Recoup which highlight the fact that only one-in-ten local authorities currently recycle bread bags, means that despite a growing desire amongst people to recycle; it is difficult to do so. The partnership with TerraCycle aims to address this and make it easier for people to recycle used bread bags from home or within their community.
The Hovis® scheme, called the Bread Bag Recycling Programme, aims to create a UK-wide network of public access bread bag recycling points. Community groups and individual consumers are encouraged to set up locations for their communities where the public can drop off used bread bags, which can be sent, free of charge, to TerraCycle for recycling. It is a great opportunity for individuals and local groups such as schools and shops to take part and work towards a common goal.
Anyone can recycle via the Hovis® and TerraCycle Bread Bag Recycling Programme, with consumers having two options for how they opt to recycle:
1. They can register as a private collector, enabling them to collect used bread bags at home and then access free postage labels to post them to TerraCycle for recycling;
2. They can locate community collection points using a map on the TerraCycle website and take their used bread bags to dedicated collection points from where the packaging is then sent in for recycling. If there isn’t an existing community collection point then consumers are encouraged to set up and administrate their own collection point for their community.
Community collection points can be established by groups such as schools, charities, community groups etc at easy to access locations. Whoever runs the community collection point decides the school, charity or non-profit organisation which benefits from the reward points raised from the recycling.
Any LDPE plastic bread bag, both from Hovis and other bread brands, can be sent in for recycling and the packaging will be shredded and converted into plastic pellets or flakes, before being used to make new recycled products such as public benches and outdoor furniture.
