Peterborough litter Wombles find 27 year old Walkers cheese and onion crisp packet during clear up

A litter picking group have discovered a Walkers crisp packet dating back nearly 30 years.

The Recoup Litter Composition & Pathways Project found the cheese and onion packet in Peterborough, with an expiry date of 1997.

The find was "surprisingly preserved", with little degradation to the blue and red packet or the ink.

A spokesperson for Recoup, an independent authority on plastic recycling, said it highlighted how litter can stay in the environment if left uncollected.

The group have carried out five litter picks as part of a project over concerns of litter in the area and plan to provide evidence on how long litter can really last.

The walk was carried out with help of the Peterborough Litter Wombles Association, a group of community volunteers who collected more than 2,000 bags of litter in 2023.

Laura Hutchings, Projects & Data Manager at RECOUP, said “It has been really interesting to see the variety of both new and legacy litter we have been collecting from each litter pick.

"There is an obvious need for highly thought-out, targeted interventions for the prevention of litter, and this project will provide key data and insights to help achieve this”.