Luton aerospace firm has Christmas all wrapped up

A team of employees working at aerospace engineering company Leonardo took the initiative to make Christmas more sustainable this year, by handing out recyclable wrapping paper and decorations to their colleagues to raise awareness of greener options.

Recent research suggests that on average, 227,000 miles of wrapping paper are thrown away each year. In the UK alone, the amount of wrapping paper used throughout Christmas could stretch to the moon. Each year a forest the size of Wales is required to provide all the paper used in Britain and when you consider that most wrapping paper is single use, the impact on the environment is significant. Wrapping paper is often dyed and laminated and contains non-paper additives such as gold and silver colouring, glitter and plastics.

Priya Bains, Industrial Placement, Eleanor White, Year in Industry Student), Olyvia Jones, Graduate and Riley Grant, Industrial Placement who all work at Leonardo at Capability Green in Luton were already aware of the environmental impact of materials used commonly during the festive season. However, they wanted to suggest very simple changes to colleagues during what is a very busy time of year for everyone.

The team researched suppliers of recyclable materials. Team member Priya said: “To promote sustainability around Christmas, we decided to focus on one easy change that most people can make to do their bit and help make Christmas more eco-friendly. After some research into different ideas we finally came to the conclusion that wrapping paper was the way to go as most wrapping paper is not fully recyclable - especially all that pesky glitter. We focused on finding 100% recyclable wrapping materials, which still look great.”

After identifying the best suppliers, the team set to work creating packages of recyclable wrapping paper and eco-friendly ribbons and bows. They then handed them out to colleagues around the office to spread the sustainable message about greener alternatives, and were met with a very positive response.

Priya said: “We were definitely met with enthusiasm, giving out over 200 packages of sustainable wrapping materials to employees. They all seemed to be impressed with our sustainable message and willing to make the change. Overall, it was a fantastic day and we were able to spread festive cheer whilst sharing a great message about the environment.”

In September this year, Leonardo published its first Carbon Reduction Plan for the UK, detailing how they would achieve their net zero targets by 2030. The company recently completed a helicopter flight using Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), demonstrating their readiness to offer customers greener options.

Leonardo currently has a wide range of vacancies, so if you would like to work for a company that has been ranked in first place for the Aerospace & Defence industry in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) for the third consecutive year visit their website here: uk.leonardocompany.com/careers