Supermarkets could make ‘big cuts’ to the amount of plastic waste they produce by focusing on just a few ‘problem products’ responsible for a big chunk of their plastic footprint, according to a new report from Greenpeace.
The report sets out to model how the UK supermarkets could make ‘significant reductions’ to the amount of plastic they produce by focusing their attention on the packaging for 54 grocery categories.
The analysis also suggests that changing the packaging for just 13 categories of popular groceries, like fizzy drinks, fruit and vegetables, and household detergents, supermarkets could reduce plastic by approximately 35%, remove 45 billion pieces of supermarket plastic, and more than 300,000 tonnes of plastic.
The challenge to change our plastic habits, move to widespread reuse and refill systems, and turn the tide on plastic pollution, is vast. It will not be easy but it will be possible, and we think UK supermarkets can do it
The report, Unpacked: How supermarkets can cut plastic packaging in half by 2025, shares brand new data modelling for the amount of plastic packaging UK supermarkets are producing each year, based on 2019 supermarket figures.
It features new calculations for the estimated weight, sales units and number of components (pieces) of plastic in consumers’ grocery shopping.
The numbers are representative of the entire UK supermarket sector, which has never been done before, Greenpeace says.
Nina Schrank, plastics campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said: “For the first time, data specialists have mapped out where the greatest potential lies for drastically reducing the volume of plastic packaging going through our supermarket tills.
“It kick-starts one of the most important environmental questions of our time: How and where can we reduce throwaway packaging? And fast.
“The challenge to change our plastic habits, move to widespread reuse and refill systems, and turn the tide on plastic pollution, is vast. It will not be easy but it will be possible, and we think UK supermarkets can do it.”
Plastic reduction
Previous research has not detailed the number of plastic components, such as the individual lids, labels and films, and previous studies have not examined the plastic in terms of product categories, like bottled water, fizzy drinks, household detergents and vegetables, according to the environmental campaigners.
Greenpeace says its report not only provides the ‘most up-to-date calculations’ of how much plastic packaging our supermarkets are using, but also explains a model for how all UK supermarkets could cut their plastic footprints by 50% by 2025.
The report also provides a sector-wide view. By identifying the “hotspot” product categories which the new data sets suggest put the most single-use plastic onto the market, the report sets out to highlight the product categories that have the ‘highest potential’ for plastic reduction.
Some of this is encouraging, and some of it is, frankly, tokenistic window-dressing. But none of it is happening fast enough for a problem that’s so urgent for our environment – Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, celebrity chef, food writer and presenter of War on Plastic, said: “Most of us are aware that we have far too much single-use plastic in our lives, and from the response to our War on Plastic shows on BBC1, I believe most of us want much less, and are prepared to do something about it. But we need much more help from the big retailers to achieve this.
“Our supermarkets sold us 114 billion pieces of throwaway plastic packaging last year. That’s so much, it’s almost impossible to visualise. But I can tell you, it wouldn’t all fit in Wembley stadium.”
“Most of the supermarkets are making plastic reduction pledges of one sort or another, and some of them, like Waitrose and M&S, are trialling refill and reuse solutions in store. As you’ll see in our War on Plastics show on BBC1 on Tuesday, Tesco is launching a scheme to include refillable, reusable containers for on-line deliveries.
“Some of this is encouraging, and some of it is, frankly, tokenistic window-dressing. But none of it is happening fast enough for a problem that’s so urgent for our environment.”
Plastic footprint
The report recommends that supermarkets reduce plastic packaging across 54 product categories, but also suggests that cuts can be made to their plastic footprints by focusing on 13 categories with the highest potential for reduction.
Greenpeace has selected these 13 categories in particular because they generally score highly in all 3 metrics – weight, sales units and the number of components. If reductions are made across these 13 categories alone, UK supermarkets could reduce their plastic output by approximately 35% or just over a third (approximately 70% of the way to the target of 50% by 2025).
Greenpeace proposes that retailers prioritise these categories first, in order to make far-reaching reductions in single use plastic as quickly as possible.
The 13 recommended categories are bottled water, fizzy drinks, milk, still drinks and fruit juices, household cleaning products, detergents and softeners, sports and energy drinks, rice, vegetables and salads, fruit, fruit juice, dilutables (cordials and squash drinks), and bath and shower products.
Changing the packaging for these 13 product categories could remove 45 billion pieces of supermarket plastic, and more than 300,000 tonnes of plastic – the equivalent weight of 7,000 supermarket delivery lorries, that if lined up nose to tail could lead from Birmingham to Manchester.
In order to reach this ambitious target, we need transformational thinking and collaboration across the industry – Sainsbury’s
The report also draws attention to the fact that just five product categories, within the set of 13, are estimated to contribute 247,000 tonnes of plastic packaging every year. Bottled water, fizzy drinks, milk, vegetables and salads and wrapped fruit are collectively packaged in around 46 billion pieces of plastic.
If supermarkets follow the recommendations in the report for reducing the plastic on these five product categories alone, they could reduce their plastic footprints by 35% by 2025, 70% of the way to the 50% reduction target, Greenpeace says.
Claire Hughes, Head of Quality and Innovation at Sainsbury’s, said: “We are making good progress in the five categories Greenpeace highlights as having the most reduction potential. However, in order to reach this ambitious target, we need transformational thinking and collaboration across the industry.
“We will work alongside our suppliers, manufacturers, customers and other retailers to reduce the amount of plastic across the supply chain, whilst also investing in research and development.”
Greenpeace is asking retailers and brands to commit to setting ambitious targets to at least halve single-use plastic by 2025, and also to set targets to ensure at least 25% of this is met by systems of reusable packaging. All non-recyclable packaging, like laminates and films, should be urgently eliminated.
Legally-binding targets
The forthcoming Environment Bill is an opportunity for the government to take meaningful action on plastic pollution and set ‘legally-binding targets’ for retailers to reduce single-use plastics by 50% by 2025, Greenpeace says.
It says Ministers should put tax discounts in place for producers and retailers that sell their products in reusable and refillable packaging to incentivise the vital move away from disposable packaging to reuse systems.
“This would enable all retailers to benefit from reducing throwaway packaging by rolling out reuse systems, and wouldn’t mean this move is only an option for those with the greatest revenue or most control due to a high proportion of own-brand products,” Greenpeace says.
EPR
It also says government should make plastic producers fully responsible for the escalating volumes of single-use plastic packaging they are producing, which ultimately results in plastic waste.
New Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation, that goes beyond current producer responsibility requirements, should incentivise reuse and reduce single-use plastic packaging in two ways, Greenpeace says.
Strong EPR legislation would be an important step towards incentivising reuse across the entire retail sector as producers would likely look to reduce the volume of plastic in their packaging
Firstly, the government should ensure producers cover the full costs of disposing their waste. The new EPR scheme should also structure the costs producers are asked to pay, so they pay lower costs for using reusable products than products that are only recyclable.
It says this will encourage producers to redesign their products – what’s called ‘eco-design’ – and incentivise moving to reuse as well as making products more recyclable.
“Strong EPR legislation would be an important step towards incentivising reuse across the entire retail sector as producers would likely look to reduce the volume of plastic in their packaging,” Greenpeace says.
