Royal Mail rubber band

A Royal Mail rubber band is a small red elastic loop used by the postal delivery service in the United Kingdom.

In the course of its work, the Royal Mail consumes nearly one billion rubber bands per year to tie together bundles of letters at sorting offices.

[1] In the 2000s, complaints about Royal Mail rubber bands littering the streets of Britain gave rise to ongoing press interest in this minor cultural phenomenon.

[9] Cases of hedgehogs dying from their contact with rubber bands have been reported, with fatalities being caused by the objects sticking to the animal and the creature's flesh becoming enmeshed with it over time.

[1] In July 2021, news outlets reported an update from one of Royal Mail's Twitter accounts telling customers they could return rubber bands by putting them in postboxes, although the tweet has since been deleted.