Recycling and the Environment

We’ve been shortlisted for the Enterprise Nation Sustainable Small Business Awards!

One of the first things we did when we took over at The Games Den was look at areas where we believed we could make changes to be more ecologically conscious and from this came our Environmental Policy and innovative recycling programme. We pride ourselves on our packaging that is beautiful but also 100% recyclable or compostable and our innovative plastic sprue recycling scheme rescues Games Workshop miniature waste from landfill and recycles it. 

Keep your fingers crossed for us when the winners are announced early September. Whether or not we win, it’s an honour to have been shortlisted. Here’s to a cleaner, safer, cooler world for us and the generations to come!

It’s clear to anyone that we all need to do as much as we can to protect the planet we live on for this and future generations and that we’re at a critical time where action needs to be taken now.  

We believe that providing a retail service with a difference shouldn’t come at an environmental cost and so we’ve put in place an environmental policy that is designed to mitigate as much of the environmental impact that our business creates.  To find out what we do to protect the planet please read on.

Our Deliveries

All the packaging we use to post out orders is either biodegradable or recyclable:

• Address label
  • Our address labels are printed on biodegradable paper with a natural adhesive meaning they will biodegrade naturally and can be added to your compost.
• Tape
  • All our packages are sealed with our water activated gummed paper tape.  The pulp used for the tape is sourced from european paper mills that only use managed forests for their pulp meaning that more trees are planted and nurtured than are harvested to produce the paper.  The adhesive used on the tape is starch based which is completely soluble in water.
  • Anything else that is sticky is biodegradable so you can stick it in the bin or compost safe in the knowledge that it’ll naturally degrade in less than 12 months.
• Cardboard Box
  • You can either recycle the cardboard box your order is delivered in or you can compost it (thanks to the biodegradable label and packing tape).
• Tissue Paper
  • We love receiving packages in the post and hope you do too.  To make the experience just a little bit more special, and because it’s more than just a hobby, we like to take a little bit more care in how your order is presented than maybe other retailers do. The tissue paper we use is compostable or recyclable and dyed with natural inks to ensure our water supply isn’t polluted.
  • The Games Den sticker used on our packages, like our address labels, is biodegradable with a vegetable based adhesive so can also be composted or recycled along with the tissue paper.
  • Our flyers are made from premium recycled paper using soy based ink. 
• Package Protection
  • We’ve ditched the plastic bubble wrap.  Instead we use a paper bubble wrap that provides the same level of protection but can be composted or recycled.  We also use simple paper filler and biodegradable pellets.  When we can, we will also reuse packaging protection that has been included with our deliveries but only if it’s environmentally friendly.

It’s not just about ensuring our packaging is environmentally friendly though.  We also want to help to reduce the impact that our deliveries have on the planet and so, where possible, we use delivery options that offset their carbon emissions.  

In Store

We’ve ditched plastic bags.  We hate the damage that plastic bags do to the environment and wildlife (and we really don’t like being charged for our shopping bags!).  Instead we’ve switched to paper bags.  They’re strong, stylish, reusable and, ultimately, recyclable or compostable at the end of their life.

Any cardboard boxes that our stock is delivered in are freecycled within the local community.  There’s always someone in need of strong cardboard boxes to help them move house, store things or build robots with their children, and we’re always ready to help out.

Plastic Waste

There can be a high level of plastic waste associated with gaming, especially tabletop gaming.  Whilst plastic miniatures are typically cheaper to produce and buy than metal miniatures there can be a significant amount of waste.  This waste is normally category 6 plastic for which there are limited recycling facilities available for consumers.

To try and minimise the amount of category 6 plastic that ends up in landfill from the hobby we all enjoy we have devised an innovative recycling programme that pays you to recycle your Games Workshop waste with us.  Simply send waste sprue’s from your Games Workshop* models to us and in return we’ll give you some credit to spend in store.

* Unfortunately we are only able to accept Games Workshop plastic sprues at the moment.  We will not be able to recycle any other plastic sprues that are sent to us.