The Mark Allen Group is committed to using environmentally friendly and sustainable materials, wherever possible. Currently most of our magazines are posted using oil based recyclable plastic wrapping, which can be recycled (along with carrier bags) at recycling points and with other household plastic in some local authorities. You may have noticed that some publishers have moved their poly wrap to starch based plastic wrapping, which can be included with food waste and decomposes after 10 days in the correct environment. However, it’s still unclear if this is a significant improvement on the current solution, as not all households compost food waste and a large number of our items are sent to business addresses, where recycling using this method may not be practicable.

After extensive research, we have concluded that the best alternative to recyclable plastic wrapping is a paper-based alternative. We are working with our suppliers to make technological improvements to their machines so that they can handle paper-based wrapping more effectively. We have made significant progress and aim to move the majority of our titles to paper-based wrapping by the end of 2019, despite this being a more expensive option than the current alternatives. Where commercially viable, we will also publish brands “naked” without any cover wrap.

The Mark Allen Group will continue to invest and move towards more environmentally friendly options for all its operations and the materials we use.