7 November, 2025

This Remembrance season, millions will wear a poppy made from recyclable paper. It’s not new, with the redesign launching in 2023, but it’s presence still feels significant. In a world of fast fashion and disposable plastics, the poppy’s shift to sustainability is an interesting example of tradition evolving with the times.  

The Royal British Legion’s paper poppy was designed in collaboration with material experts at the University College London, with the aim of reducing its impact on both the climate and environment. The resulting poppy is crafted with upcycled fibres from paper coffee cup production, making it recyclable and compostable, and reducing its emissions by 40% compared to its plastic predecessor. It took years of design iterations to get there, not because quality paper is hard to find, but because symbolism is hard to change. The poppy had to look right, feel right and still carry the emotional weight of remembrance, in recognition of the meaning it carries for the millions who wear it as a symbol of respect, reflection and shared history 

This represents an important lesson for businesses. Sustainability is not just about swapping materials or ticking ESG boxes. It is about rethinking what things mean and how they show up in the world. It is also about shifting how we think about memory, materials and meaning, and recognising that even small design choices can carry big cultural weight.  

By Hillevi Fock