I cant believe the gross irresponsibility of John Lewis Partnership's Waste Disposal department which authorised use of unwanted plastic bags for packaging.

How on earth can I possibly be expected to dispose all these countless plastic bags which in terms of volum fill up at least 2 armchairs in a safe and environmentally friendly manner.

I deeply resent being palmed off with their waste disposal so that they dont have to deal with it. :rant:

I cant believe the gross irresponsibility of John Lewis Partnership's Waste Disposal department which authorised use of unwanted plastic bags for packaging.

How on earth can I possibly be expected to dispose all these countless plastic bags which in terms of volum fill up at least 2 armchairs in a safe and environmentally friendly manner.

I deeply resent being palmed off with their waste disposal so that they dont have to deal with it. :rant:

Store them in carrier bags in your kitchen drawer like every other women on the planet.

Plastic bags can definately be recycled in the plastics/can banks at most supermarkets and other locations. For your nearest check here:

http://www.onyxsheffield.co.uk/recypostcode.asp

Some supermarkets have plastic bag recycling points as well.

If John Lewis had decided not to use these bags then surely using them for packaging was better than throwing them away. Otherwise they would have had to chuck them away and then buy packaging which would then be chucked by most householders anyway.

Wendy,

most charity shops would be grateful for your unwanted plastic bags, if they're in re-usable condition.

I resent their disposal problems being passed off on to me when this is their responsibility - so much for their social responsibility stuff and nonsense.

Oh and by the way how would you like to open a box and suddenly find that nicely hoovered carpet suddenly loads of tiny pieces of cut-shred paper scattered all over the place because JLP also deemed that an effective way to use their waste paper.

That's the reason they're supposed to pay for their commercial waste to be disposed of.

Perhaps they are trying to recycle.

Ring them and complain. Ask them if they are trying to shirk their social responsibilities by getting you to dispose of recycling for them.

I am quite sure JLP is shirking its corporate and social responsibilities.

It really annoys me because they have a £5,000,000,000 (is that enough zeroes for billions) of Gross Sales Turnover so it's not as if they cant afford to deal with their waste disposal in a socially acceptable manner rather than palming it off on to the unsuspecting public.

So what do you want them to use?
Perhaps you should consider if your really even needed whatever it was you bought that required such packing before you start moaning about saving the environment.

I resent their disposal problems being passed off on to me when this is their responsibility - so much for their social responsibility stuff and nonsense.

Oh and by the way how would you like to open a box and suddenly find that nicely hoovered carpet suddenly loads of tiny pieces of cut-shred paper scattered all over the place because JLP also deemed that an effective way to use their waste paper.

That's the reason they're supposed to pay for their commercial waste to be disposed of.

I really don't see the problem here - It sounds like John Lewis are behaving in a responsible way. By reusing their waste for packaging they have avoided disposing of their waste (which they could recycle but reusing is actually better) and have avoided using up further paper resources by sourcing further packaging.

In the worst case environmental scenario they could landfill their paper waste and then ship paper from Indonesian rainforests over to shred for packaging.

What would you rather they do?

I know you are upset at having to recycle the packaging but I feel its far better of JL to reuse their paper than to pack with those dreadful polystyrene curl things.

They are dreadful for the environment. In away they are being more environmentally friendly don't you think ?



Edited for grammatical errors

I know you are upset at having to recycle the packaging but I feel its far better of JL to reuse there paper that to pack with those dreadful polystyrene curl things.

They are dreadful for the environment. In away they are being more environmentally friendly don't you think ?

I wholeheartedly agree with you. If they didn't use carrier bags/paper they'd use something that's more than likely to create more damage to the environment. They'd still have to use some sort of packaging, instead of binning their bags and buying in something else, they're recycling. What's wrong with that?

I've been giving this a great deal of thought and the situation has only arisen because they want to create more space on their vans for heavy goods in order to increase the volume of sales.

They now use Parcel Force for other sales which results in more packaging being used than was previously the case so I do not think JLP is being at all responsible in the way that they are going about this.

Wendy, do you only shop in John Lewis so you can complain about them?

You seem to have given up on your accusation of them dumping their rubbish on you after it was pointed out how responsible other forummers think they are, so now you're griping about their transportation policy....

Kindly provide a hyperlink to the document which states that they have decided to 'create more space on their vans for heavy goods in order to increase the volume of sales' :rolleyes:

I've been giving this a great deal of thought and the situation has only arisen because they want to create more space on their vans for heavy goods in order to increase the volume of sales.

They now use Parcel Force for other sales which results in more packaging being used than was previously the case so I do not think JLP is being at all responsible in the way that they are going about this.

Hang on. I still don't see any logic there.

Previously:
Not enough space in the vans = extra trips, more vans & slower service. Probably more c02 emissions.

Now:
Smaller packages sent by parcel force, large items by JL home delivery = less trips, less vans & faster service. probably less c02 emissions.

What's irresponsible about that?

The only thing that worries me here is yeah JL probably did a good thing by re-using the carrier bags but how many people will bother taking them to the supermarket to recycle?

Also, plastic bags are just as bad for the environment as those polystyrine things.

People really ought to start re-using bags if the don't already or use another bag when they go to the supermarket - will help the environment so much! I carry 2 bags to the supermarket with me everytime I go.

Sorry, went off on one then...

John Lewis bags are now as non-reusable as everybody elses. They used to be better quality. Unfortunately, they were a shoplifter's dream. The cheaper ones look far too 'used' to not draw attention to themselves for shoplifting

I cant believe the gross irresponsibility of John Lewis Partnership's Waste Disposal department which authorised use of unwanted plastic bags for packaging.

How on earth can I possibly be expected to dispose all these countless plastic bags which in terms of volum fill up at least 2 armchairs in a safe and environmentally friendly manner.

I deeply resent being palmed off with their waste disposal so that they dont have to deal with it. :rant:

Do you resent the fact that this is helping to end exploitation of child labour in India? Or does it bother you more that you may have to make the effort to get rid of your consumer waste yourself?

To set the record straight these plastic bags are NOT reusable and no-one would want them because apart from the original opening they' have got massive tears in them. Moreover others have openings at both ends.

Furthermore after some of the postings on here I thought it would be useful to do a reality check to ensure I had got a sense of balance. I am pleased to report that the person I asked also said they considered the volume of unusable plastic bags which JLP had dumped on me was quite unacceptable.

I AM NOT A REPOSITORY FOR JLP rubbish which they can well afford to dispose of in a more ethical manner.

Do you resent the fact that this is helping to end exploitation of child labour in India? Or does it bother you more that you may have to make the effort to get rid of your consumer waste yourself?


It is not paper bags that are in question. It is plastic bags. And what do you think would happen if they are delivering parcels with this sort of stuff to households with large numbers of children.

Great stuff. Someone somewhere hasnt really thought this through.

And what do you think would happen if they are delivering parcels with this sort of stuff to households with large numbers of children.


Your getting desperate now!

Come on then, what would happen?

I would hope a responsible adult would put the plastic bags in a safe place. :rolleyes:

Away from the reach of vulnerable children.

It is not paper bags that are in question. It is plastic bags. And what do you think would happen if they are delivering parcels with this sort of stuff to households with large numbers of children.

Great stuff. Someone somewhere hasnt really thought this through.

"It is estimated that 100m Indians earn some sort of a living recycling garbage. Bottles, paper, plastic bags and fragments of fabric are all tradable commodities.

At the bottom end of this informal, untaxed economy are street dwellers, often children, combing rubbish tips and gutters for saleable waste....


..Many UK businesses are unaware of the links they have with poverty and exploitation when they do business in India, says Peter Davies of UK-based organisation Business in the Community, which assesses companies' impact on society and the environment.

Davies works with international businesses that trade in India, including BT, Oracle, John Lewis, Ernst & Young and KPMG, to show these organisations how they may unwittingly affect local workers. "

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/small-business/article.html?in_article_id=410653&in_page_id=10

http://www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk/TemplatePage.aspx?PageType=SCT&PageID=15

I would hope a responsible adult would put the plastic bags in a safe place. :rolleyes:

Away from the reach of vulnerable children.


I would too and nevertheless accidents do happen especially with young children.

Your getting desperate now!

Come on then, what would happen?


No I am not getting desperate now at all. I simply considered that perhaps some people on here might have a point and therefore asked a real life person whose judgement I trusted whether I was being at all unreasonable. I then reported back my findings. It is regrettable if you dont like the report.

I take my own cloth bags when I do my shopping. Why don't you? That way no plastic to get rid of.So nothing to winge about. :thumbsup:

I take my own cloth bags when I do my shopping. Why don't you? That way no plastic to get rid of.So nothing to winge about. :thumbsup:

I think Wendygs was referring to larger items in boxes that are filled with plastic bags for protection rather than the usual fillings. Correct me if I'm wrong though.

how are you disposing of the box?

Thanks Titian. I re-read the post and you are right. Sorry Wendygs. :blush:

Thanks Titian. I re-read the post and you are right. Sorry Wendygs. :blush:


Apologies accepted. :D

Wendy, do you only shop in John Lewis so you can complain about them?

You seem to have given up on your accusation of them dumping their rubbish on you after it was pointed out how responsible other forummers think they are, so now you're griping about their transportation policy....

Kindly provide a hyperlink to the document which states that they have decided to 'create more space on their vans for heavy goods in order to increase the volume of sales' :rolleyes:


Noted. Perhaps you will also indly provide a demonstration on how to provide a hyperlink to a sales person's voice inputs in to a 2-way conversation at the time of sale.

Personally this is beyond my technical capabilities. Cheers

I'm still waiting for mine :hihi:

Wendy, do you only shop in John Lewis so you can complain about them?

As for this, I think I am more noted for my highly favourable comments of TK Maxx than JLP............ which is only good for furniture and if TKMaxx also did furniture that's where I would be taking my business. :D

Well, I think re-using bags is an excellent idea from JL! Packing with bags is much better than using those godawful packing peanuts or even worse those inflated bags which you can't pop or get rid of easily.

At least carrier bags can be reused afterwards for something else (even packing something else if torn!)