Red Rubber Bands

Dear Mr Barratt,

Thank you for your request for information received on 29/10/2009, which we
are considering under the Freedom of Information Act. Under the Act you
should expect a reply from us to be sent by 26/11/2009, which is twenty
working days from receipt of your request.

If for any reason we are unable to provide you with a full response within
that time, we will contact you explaining the reasons for this and giving a
revised date by which we will reply.

If in the meantime you have any questions or would like to contact us about
your request, please contact us by telephone 01252 806513 or alternatively
email or write to us at the address below. Please be assured that we are
giving this our attention and will get back to you shortly.

Yours sincerely

Andrew Moore
[Royal Mail Group request email]
Freedom of Information Unit
PO Box 341, ALDERSHOT, GU11 1WW

Royal Mail is a trading name of Royal Mail Group Ltd. Registered in England
and Wales.
Registered number 4138203. Registered office at 100 Victoria Embankment,
LONDON, EC4Y 0HQ

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Dear Mr Barratt,

Re: Freedom of Information Request

I am writing in response to your e-mail of the 29th October 2009 in respect
of rubber bands used by Royal Mail, which I am dealing with under the terms
of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. (the Act)

In your letter you have requested information in two parts which I shall
address below. Firstly, I would like to give you some background on the
usage of rubber bands within Royal Mail operations.

Royal Mail Letters uses rubber bands in the operations of sorting and
delivering mail. The bands we use have changed significantly over recent
years. The bands were changed to a red colour to make it easier for our
employees to see dropped bands and retrieve them.

Since the red rubber bands were introduced, a number of changes to the band
specification have been made; including a reduction in the thickness of the
bands enabling us to reduce the amount of raw material used and they are
more biodegradable than the normal brown bands enabling Royal Mail Letters
to lessen the environmental impact.

In addition, Royal Mail Letters has a number of initiatives, such as
reengineering processes and mail handling equipment, which should reduce
the volume of elastic bands we use in our operation in the future.

Turning to your original request in relation to which area of the UK red
rubber bands were first introduced, I can confirm that the red bands were
first trialled in the then Northern Area during May 2004. The Northern area
consisted of Northern England, Scotland & Northern Ireland.

In respect of the approximate month and year the bands were introduced to
Leicester and its rural surrounding post offices, I can confirm that red
bands were supplied to the Leicester area at the end of January 2005 in
line with the national rollout that commenced in December 2004.

I hope the information detailed above is of use. If you are not satisfied
with this response, you do have a right of appeal. If you wish to do so
please set out in writing your grounds of appeal and send to The Head of
Information Compliance, Royal Mail Group, Company Secretary's Office, 100
Victoria Embankment, LONDON, EC4Y 0HQ an internal panel will then review
the decision, and you will be advised of the outcome.

If you decide to appeal and are still not satisfied with our response you
also have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely

Peter Johnson
Freedom of Information Case Officer
[Royal Mail Group request email]

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