On World Ocean Day (8 June), leading sustainable packing company, Priory Direct, is calling for a complete ban of bisphenols, some of the most harmful, yet still legal, industrial chemicals found in everyday packaging labelling. Josh Pitman, Managing Director of Priory Direct, believes that the government is taking too long to make a complete ban, despite widely available data about the harm bisphenols can cause to humans and the environment, particularly as microplastics in the ocean.
In the UK, Bisphenol A (BPA), has been banned from baby bottles since 2011 due to significant health risks for humans and toxicity to aquatic life. However, it is still permitted on thermal paper, including standard ecommerce packaging labels, to prevent the ink from smudging. It then comes into contact with anyone who handles the package and enters waterways and oceans as microplastics when packaging is recycled. Other forms of the chemical, including Bisphenol S (BPS), are not restricted.
Pitman says: “BPA is an extremely harmful chemical that has been linked to cancers, infertility, angina, and other medical conditions in humans by altering the production of oestrogen. It can also do great harm to the environment, causing our waterways to fill with microplastics and flow into the ocean. And yet, it is still used in some food and drinks packaging, and on the labels of everyday parcel deliveries.”
The use of BPA in manufacturing in the UK has been under review since 2022, with the review expanding in February 2024 to include other bisphenols which have a similar hazard profile. The review is set to conclude by the end of 2024.
BPA is recognised globally as an Endocrine Disrupting Chemical (EDC), which means it affects the normal hormone function of people and wildlife. As ecommerce sales increase and more thermal paper labels are used, Pitman fears that increasing amounts of BPA will enter and cause harm to the environment and people.
Pitman adds: “Not only is this potentially harmful to the couriers and online shoppers handling their parcels, but the recycling process cannot entirely remove this dangerous chemical and so it ends up in our waterways and ingested by sea life. You then have the risk of bioaccumulation, whereby chemicals lingering in the tissues of these sea creatures are consumed by predators and travel up through the food chain and back onto our tables.”
The EU banned BPA, and related chemicals like BPS, in 2020. In the UK, BPA exposure is now estimated to be 20,000 times higher. Research has found that levels of BPA entering waterways from treatment centres are 10 to 37 times higher than previously predicted. BPA also leaches off plastic products that end up in our rivers and seas.
Pitman, whose planet-friendly packaging company, Priory Direct, is working to reduce the environmental impact of ecommerce by helping retailers to tackle supply chain and operational challenges, says: “Currently, shoppers can’t be sure when they’re coming into contact with BPA and how much we and our oceans are exposed to.
“Cleaning up our waterways should be a government priority, and awareness days like World Ocean Day, especially with this year’s theme of Catalysing Action, are a great way to remind our leaders of this priority. A complete ban of BPA and related chemicals is surely the answer, but the government isn’t moving fast enough.”
Instead of BPA, Priory Direct uses a Vitamin C thermal coating in the firm’s phenol free thermal labels, which is harmless and naturally biodegradable. This coating performs the same function as BPA, which is to prevent the ink on labels from smudging, so that the address details remain legible.
“Environmentally friendly solutions do exist to avoid using toxic chemicals like BPA on thermal labels,” adds Pitman. “Many firms are proactive on this front, but we also need stringent regulation to ban it from use so it can no longer cause harm to people and our oceans.”
Priory Direct is based in Kent (Aylesford) and supplies sustainable packaging to over 21,000 businesses. It helps large retailers reduce their carbon footprint by tackling supply chain and operational challenges, helping to lower the environmental impact of ecommerce. It also provides affordable, sustainable packaging materials to thousands of small businesses, with 2,000 products ranging from cardboard boxes to mailing bags. The company’s Priory Elements range is designed with recyclability in mind and is partnered with international organisation 1% For the Planet. The firm has numerous charitable partnerships, is carbon neutral, a B Corp, and working towards net neutrality by 2030.