Waitrose to ban disposable plastic toys given away with children’s magazines

Print

Waitrose is to step up its efforts to reduce single-use plastic by no longer selling children’s magazines containing disposable toys.

Magazines-offering-plastic-toys.jpg

Many children’s magazines contain free plastic toys which have a very short lifespan and cannot be easily recycled. The ban will not include educational or reusable craft items, such as colouring pencils and pens or collectible models, which are intended to be used multiple times.

Waitrose will remove magazines from its shelves over the next eight weeks and is calling for magazine publishers to replace plastic toys with more sustainable alternatives.

Marija Rompani, partner and director of ethics and sustainability at Waitrose, said: “While we know these magazines are popular with children, some of the unnecessary plastic attached to them has become really excessive.

“Many in the younger generation really care about the planet and are the ones inheriting the problem of plastic pollution. We urge publishers to find alternatives, and other retailers to follow our lead in ending the pointless plastic that comes with children’s magazines.”

The retailer was inspired to act after hearing about the campaign by a 10-year-old girl from Gwynedd, north Wales, who launched her own campaign to persuade publishers to end the practice.