While there has been some high-profile media attention on the sustainability of garden products in recent days, Kelkay has been working creatively on the issue in the background.

The company has announced it will launch a range of aggregates in compostable packaging manufactured from plant material designed to break down completely after use.

The material is designed to behave exactly like conventional plastic film in storage and use but to degrade completely when composted at high temperatures in industrial compost recycling facilities. Kelkay admits it is breaking new ground and that at this stage there are limited routes to collection and composting significant quantities of the bags after use.

Kelkay’s Antony Harker said: “Plastic packaging is a challenge for all of us, but someone has to take the initiative and show some leadership. Only when there is a commercial quantity of alternative materials being used in the market can we expect the domestic collection and recycling supply chain to work efficiently. In the meantime, I feel better knowing that the packaging we will be using in future will not still be in the ground or floating in the oceans when my grandchildren are grown up.”

The new bags will be available on a limited range for 2020 whilst the company verifies the integrity and sustainability of the material. The plant-based film complies with British Standard EN 13432, a European harmonised standard that sets the minimum standards for compostable and biodegradable bioplastics.