Billion rubber band ball comes bouncing into view for RM

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Billion rubber band ball comes bouncing into view for Royal Mail

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The Royal Mail is using more than 871 million rubber bands a year, it has emerged, enough to stretch nine times round the world.

The figure could soon break the billion mark with the number of bands being used rising from 753 million in 2005/06 to the latest figure of 871,695,000 in 2007/08.

Responding to a Freedom of Information request, Royal Mail said it uses so many every year because they are "very useful when it comes to sorting and delivering the mail".

"We remind our people about the benefits of reusing bands and also ask them not to discard them after use," it said.

"Unfortunately, given the quantity that we use, it is inevitable that some rubber bands will be dropped by mistake.

"The vast majority of our people are hard working and conscientious but, as with any labour intensive organisation, errors will occasionally happen."

Royal Mail added that its rubber bands were "more biodegradable" that ordinary brown ones.

Dickie Felton, of Keep Britain Tidy, has estimated that six per cent of streets in the UK have the red rubber bands on them at any one time and he collected 13,000 to send back to Royal Mail to protest against the level of littering.

[Stormproof]

"We remind our people about the benefits of reusing bands and also ask them not to discard them after use," it said.

I very rarely re use the bands, reason being most of them don't last 2 uses

[axeman]

These figgures must be inncorect as we have been told by posters on this site the mail is down so we must surely be using less not more

[brothermagrew]

These figgures must be inncorect as we have been told by posters on this site the mail is down so we must surely be using less not more

A good and very fair point Axeman but then again even if you believe that mail volumes are down it doesn't then follow that we have to use less as they are of such crap quality and can only be used about twice before they snap then more are purchased to provide for their inadequacy.

[eian687]

i guess the figures are right because only 1 in 3 bands dont break on first use

[stokes11eg]

Well--at least we are keeping lots of folk in a job!

[andy2007]

"We remind our people about the benefits of reusing bands and also ask them not to discard them after use," it said.

I very rarely re use the bands, reason being most of them don't last 2 uses

I thought that tey were designed to be biodegradable, and that's why you get the crap ones, and we don't. In the RDCs (and presumably MCs too), we have normal Elastic Bands, because we use them indoors, and can't really loose them. Ours last ages.

[pickaname]

The red bands are dangerous annd should be taken out of circulation.

One of RM worst cost saving ideas was the red rubber band.

[Fred B]

"We remind our people about the benefits of reusing bands and also ask them not to discard them after use," it said.

I very rarely re use the bands, reason being most of them don't last 2 uses

Many of them snap as soon as they touch the bundle.

[Lounge Lizard]

Perhaps we should go back to using string.

[thehappyones]

listen peeps the people rm employ now wouldnt know what todo with a peice of string it takes them all their time to work ........also we use the red rubbers in the MC as well although there is the normal ones kicking about in wells and alts the red ones seem to snap when they have been lying about for a while

[DGP1]

listen peeps the people rm employ now wouldnt know what todo with a peice of string it takes them all their time to work ........also we use the red rubbers in the MC as well although there is the normal ones kicking about in wells and alts the red ones seem to snap when they have been lying about for a while

I know the NIMC sends out all their used bands to the DOs. Snapped bands that could take your eye out are now the norm

[andy2007]

listen peeps the people rm employ now wouldnt know what todo with a peice of string it takes them all their time to work ........also we use the red rubbers in the MC as well although there is the normal ones kicking about in wells and alts the red ones seem to snap when they have been lying about for a while

Amazing! Where's the sense in having just one section getting the old fashioned (but long lasting) Elastic Bands, and not giving them to others?
I was told that the red (almost useless) Elastic Bands, had been introduced so they would break down fairly quickly if dropped on Deliveries. I could have been misinformed of course. But if true, then why not have the old type in the MCs as well?
It's not long since we opened a new box, so either they're still available, or we had a Hell of a lot of them in stock, to last this long.

[eian687]

our cleaner sweeps up rubber bands and puts them in with the new bands for us to use..........i have cmplained on health and safety grounds, it stopped for a while but now its happening again, our DUM DIM says its R M policy to use bands off the floor