The NFU has announced it is using waste potatoes for its monthly magazine wrap in a step to become more environmentally-friendly.
Boiled, mashed, baked or fried, potatoes are used in a staggering range of recipes, and as part of improving its green credentials, the NFU is now using waste potatoes for a slightly different purpose.
The NFU’s monthly membership magazine, British Farmer & Grower, will now be delivered to members in an environmentally-friendly potato starch polybag instead of a plastic polywrap.
All 46,000 NFU members were mailed a copy of the January 2019 magazine covered in the new wrap which is produced from potato starch from waste potatoes.
NFU chief content editor, Paul Bradley said: “As the original friends of the earth farmers play a massive role in enhancing Britain’s natural environment.
“So it is important to us to constantly look at ways that we can improve our environmental credentials in our membership magazines too.
“What better way of doing this than by using a farming product to create a decomposable magazine packaging wrapper.
“We hope that other magazines will follow suit and start swapping plastic for potatoes.”
The wider farming industry has also joined in on efforts to cut down on plastic use.
Cotteswold Dairy, based in Gloucestershire, is joining in the effort to crack down on plastic waste in its dairies, by using glass bottles for its milk.
The bottles can be rinsed and reused on an average of 50 trips. The dairy said milk stored in glass bottles “tastes better”, too.
Muller, Britain’s biggest producer of fresh milk, has confirmed its intention to acquire the capability to manufacture its own fresh milk packaging in the UK to reduce use of plastic.
And a Scottish dairy farmer is trying to raise £10,000 to stop the use of single-use plastics on his farm.
