Campaign estimates 122 billion plastic sachets containing free samples of perfumes, skincare, and other products are produced each year
Top business leaders, MPs, and campaigners have today stepped up calls for an EU-wide ban on plastic sachets used to provide free samples of beauty, skincare, and household cleaning products, warning that hundreds of millions of these sachets go to waste each year.
Sachets are often used to provide single doses of products such as perfume, shampoo, shower gel, and detergent, as a means of encouraging consumers to 'try before you buy' full-sized versions of the products.
But in a joint letter today, some 40 experts, CEOs, and parliamentarians warned that the personal care industry is estimated to produce around 122 billion plastic sachets for samples each year which are "virtually never recycled", giving rise to a huge but often overlooked environmental hazard.
At current rates, it means the world could be set to go through a trillion sachets by 2030, according to the letter, which has been spearheaded by green campaign group A Plastic Planet.
The letter argues plastic sample sachets should therefore be included in the list of items due to be outlawed in the EU next year as part of the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive. It also calls for a ban on sachets in the UK, where other single-use plastic items such as straws, stirrers, and cotton buds have recently been barred from sale.
The letter has attracted support from 22 parliamentarians, including former Labour Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and Lord Randall of Uxbridge, as well as several MEPs from across the political divide.
Business leaders, including Iceland managing director Richard Walker and TimeOut Group CEO Julio Bruno, have signed the letter along with a number of top academics, such as Julia Stegemann, professor in environmental engineering at University College London, and environmental sciences research fellow Dr Paul Butler from the University of Exeter.
Environmentalist Jonathon Porritt, UN Special Envoy Peter Thomson, and financier Ben Goldsmith have also backed the 'sack the sachet' campaign.
Sian Sutherland, co-founder of A Plastic Planet, said sample plastic sachets were a "huge piece of the pollution puzzle and every one of them is missing".
"The hundreds of billions of sample sachets pumped out by the personal and home care industries each year are used to drive instant sales but will pollute the planet for centuries," she said. "With solutions readily available there is no excuse for inaction. Any ban on single-use plastics must cover sample sachets to stamp them out once and for all."
A number of companies have been trialling and developing bio-based sachets in recent years, including takeaway delivery firm Just Eat, which has been working with condiments brand Hellmans on a trial of 100 per cent biodegradable sachets made from seaweed in London.
Meanwhile, a number of hotel chains such as IHG - the firm behind Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn - have also been moving to switch out mini plastic shampoo bottles and sachets in favour of reusable bottles or traditional soap bars in order to cut down on waste.
However, despite a series of successful trials and phase out commitments from some firms the use of sample sachets remains widespread across much of the personal care and cleaning industry.