JOHN Lewis is to stop selling Christmas crackers with plastic toys – but not until next year.
The department store and sister retailer Waitrose didn’t have time to enforce the ban this festive season because of the long lead time when ordering goods.
From next year, crackers will be filled with toys made from recyclable materials such as metal and paper games, and decorated with techniques such as embossing, rather than plastic glitter.
The decision has been made as part of the retailer’s plans to cut down on single use plastic products.
John Lewis has already removed the plastic wrapping from vast majority of the individual cards it sells and estimates that this alone will save eight tonnes of plastic each year.
Dan Cooper, head Christmas buyer at John Lewis, said; “Reducing the amount of single use plastic in products and packaging is really important to us and our customers.
“One of the challenges I face as a buyer is that we plan 18 months ahead so it takes time for changes to become a reality. I’m always searching for new, more sustainable products which will make Christmas sparkle but won’t end up spoiling our environment.”
John Lewis this year is selling three designs of ‘fill your own’ crackers – and so far these are proving to be the most popular crackers accounting for one in every three packets of crackers sold.
