'Post-it note' adverts help Tube go green

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At the moment, nearly all paper adverts are glued over one another and scraped off, so they cannot then be recycled. This means 196 tonnes of waste paper are dumped in landfill every year.

Now new posters with adhesive edges like Post-it notes mean the sheets can be unpeeled and recycled.

They are already in use at some Tube stations, including Bond Street and Oxford Circus, with most of the network expected to "go green" by the end of next year.

The only place they cannot be used is above ground, where they would exposed to the elements.

The technology has been developed at a cost of about £36 million by 3M, the company behind Post-its, for CBS Outdoor, which has the advertising contract for the Underground.

Tim Bleakley, CBS Outdoor managing director of sales, said: "For the last 100 years posters have been stuck up on the Underground in the same way - a man with a ladder, large brush and bucket of paste - but because of the glue, you can't recycle. It's like trying to recycle papier m‚ché.

"Dry posting, on the other hand, works like a giant Post-it note with a film that is applied to the edges of giant frames. It keeps the posters firmly in place but then they just peel away afterwards."

The adhesive, which needs reapplying every six months, stops the adverts from slipping, creasing, bubbling or peeling at the corners.

New lighting systems that use low-energy bulbs and recyclable electrical units have been installed as well.

CBS Outdoor is also trialling digital screen adverts on platforms and escalators. The moving films would eventually account for about 15 per cent of all advertising space on the network, said Mr Bleakley.