Royal Mail launches environmentally-friendly envelope

Royal Mail has joined forces with Mail and Print Services (MPS) to launch a new environmentally-friendly envelope.

The new 'envirlope' is fully biodegradable and is the first envelope with a window to be entirely sustainable and ecologically sound.

Designed with a window film made from cellulose base wood pulp that can be both recycled and is biodegradable, the envirlope is a technological innovation.

The wood pulp is also derived from trees obtained from forests that form part of the Forestry Initiative standard "which means that more trees are replanted than those harvested and no endangered hardwoods are used", according to a statement.

According to research conducted by Waste Aware Edinburgh, 17 trees are used to make one tonne of paper and 26 per cent of an average bin comprises paper and cardboard.

This is despite the fact that paper can be recycled up to five times before the wood fibres become so weak the paper cannot be recycled another time.