Material costs are continuing to climb, waste disposal charges are set to escalate and public concern on packaging is rising.  It's time for the food and grocery industry to take action.

Excess packaging has been in the firing line of government, media and the public for some time. However, the debate has intensified recently with sights firmly set on both packaging and product waste. As the debate continues to evolve and grow in scale, it has never been more important for the food and grocery industry to be aware of the challenges.
 

Product packaging is often not recyclable

The amount of waste

In May 2008, Wrap published new findings highlighting the true extent of UK household waste. The report estimates that one in three full bags of shopping ends up in the bin. This amounts to a staggering 6.7 million tonnes of household food being wasted in the UK – equivalent to 18 million tonnes of CO2.

Some have placed the blame on the industry for offering promotions that encourage consumers to over purchase, and for supplying products that are over-packaged and not recyclable or biodegradable. There has been plenty of media attention in this respect.

Various campaigns have raised awareness of packaging and waste:

• The Women’s Institute ran a campaign which saw members from across the country return unnecessary and excess packaging to supermarkets
• The Daily Mail has been encouraging retailers to charge consumers for single use carrier bags, and featured numerous articles highlighting what they deem to be excess packaging
• The Independent launched a ‘Campaign Against Waste’ to ‘get to the roots of the problem: excess packaging’. It identified the supermarkets as the ‘worst offenders’ (Source: The Independent)

With so much media attention focused on product and packaging waste it is not surprising that consumers are expressing concern, and as a result some retailers have actively encouraged feedback.

Last year for example, Asda asked their customers to either leave excess packaging at the store or bring it back the next time they visit. This was done so that the retailer could then go back to their suppliers to work with them to improve product packaging. Creative and innovative packaging solutions driven by the industry will certainly need to be part of the answer.
 

Managing innovation and inflation

With the price of raw materials increasing and oil hitting an all time high this year, there are not only environmental benefits to reducing packaging, but also financial incentives for the industry to innovate.

There are a number of solutions that the industry has been implementing for sometime now, such as reducing the weight of packaging, using refill and self-dispensing systems, better packaging design and increasing the amount of recycled content used in packaging.

Plant-based alternatives to conventional plastics may offer a further solution to the rise in the price of oil and meet increased consumer concerns about the environment. However, apprehension has been expressed about plant-based biodegradable plastics as to whether they are an answer to the challenge of sustainable packaging.

Within the industry it has long been understood that packaging provides a key role in product protection and longevity, but this has not always been acknowledged by the shopper. Nevertheless, innovation is likely to help the industry work towards its reduction targets.
 

Industry Targets: Asda 25% packaging reduction target for own label food products by 2008. Marks & Spencer A 25% reduction in non-glass packaging by 2012. Sainsbury's 5% overall packaging reduction target by 2008 and a 25% packaging reduction target for fresh produce by May 2008. Tesco 25% reduction across all packaging including brand and own label by 2010. Source: WRAP

Industry targets

The retail sector has come together over excess packaging and food waste through the Courtauld Commitment.

Leading retailers have all agreed to reduce the amount of packaging used. The UK’s largest retailer, Tesco, has pledged to reduce own label and branded packaging, others have focused predominantly on own label brands.

So how will the industry come together and solve this issue to not only meet these targets but also the expectations of consumers?
 

Finding a complete solution

While retailers and manufacturers will have to play their part, the full solution goes much broader than this.

With an inconsistent household recycling scheme throughout the UK and the plethora of labels and logos advising
consumers what can and cannot be recycled or composted, it is not surprising that shoppers are complaining and
industry is challenged.

For sustainable packaging to become a reality a ‘closed loop’ approach has to be achieved. This requires both industry and government to work together. Almost all products can be recycled – but it will require a strong infrastructure and financial incentives to ensure this happens successfully.

Examples of Product Packaging Disposal Logos

Source: Sainsbury's

Source: Marks & Spencer

Source: Tesco

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Toby Pickard is a Business Analyst for the Industry Development Team at IGD. His work focuses on sustainability related topics that impact the food and grocery sector. He is responsible for much of the content on IGD’s free on-line Sustainability information service.

He also helps manage IGD’s Carbon Footprinting Industry Working Group which has been formed to help assure a single fit for purpose methodology for assessing embedded greenhouse gases emissions.