 Background
Sainsbury’s is the UK’s longest standing major food retailing chain. Corporate responsibility and addressing issues such as packaging and waste has been at the heart of Sainsbury’s since 1869 – in fact Sainsbury’s first ever recycling programme was in 1918.
Today, there is an increasing and profound public interest in matters of health, the sustainable use of natural materials, trading fairly with developing communities, supporting British farmers, sourcing responsibly and in caring for our shared environment.
It’s the subject of food packaging, along with carrier bags, that causes the most concern with customers and campaigners alike. This is why Sainsbury’s set about tackling its packaging this year to create major change.
How the issue was tackled
To help customers be greener, Sainsbury’s wanted to create packaging that would be practical to use, and offered a solution to customers’ concerns. Sainsbury’s also recognised that the move needed to be bold to create long-term change in the industry and to show leadership on the issue.
Sainsbury’s aim was to create an environmental revolution by eliminating the biggest ever amount of plastic from Britain’s High Streets.
The solution was to launch its ‘home compostable packaging’. Instead of plastic, the packaging is replaced by the use of maize, sugar-cane or starch based packaging. This means it can naturally break down in a garden compost heap, eradicating the need for packaging to be binned or bagged and sent to landfill.
Sainsbury’s first pioneered the use of ‘home compostable packaging’ in 2001 on a small range of food. Sainsbury’s now wants to use its scale to make ‘home compostable packaging’ mainstream.
This was achieved by announcing it would remove 150 million plastic trays and bags on ready meals and organic food every year, and replace the plastic with compostable material.
In making the announcement, Justin King, Sainsbury’s Chief Executive, laid down a two-pronged challenge to other retailers to create greener packaging, and to the Government who were urged to ensure that every home in Britain has a compost bin.
The plan also meant appealing to all of Sainsbury’s suppliers to sign up to guidelines that encouraged them to create food whilst reducing the amount of packaging and making it re-usable, recyclable or home compostable. Plus all of Sainsbury’s own-brand food would now print clearer messages on-pack to instruct customers how to dispose of their packaging.
Benefits and impacts
Environmentally:
- The move saves 4,010 thousand tonnes of fossil fuel (3,550 tonnes of plastic) from Sainsbury’s output alone every year, as well as diverting plastic rubbish from landfill.
Socially and politically:
- The new home compostable packaging was welcomed by Friends of the Earth and supported by the Women’s Institute, as well as many local communities.
Customers:
- The launch was positively supported by customers who had told us before the launch that they were concerned food packaging should use less plastic and be greener.
Media/Stakeholders:
- The launch generated record levels of media coverage which created broad awareness of the initiative, including 60 pieces of broadcast coverage alone. Sainsbury’s was heralded as creating ‘an environmental revolution’ and the launch was reviewed as ‘news story of the week’ by magazine ‘PR Week’. Observer readers recently voted it ethical initiative of the year.
The packaging and design team have since managed to convert 90% of the organic produce packaging to home compostable or recyclable and ready meals are still on target for moving to home compostable packaging later this year.
At the beginning of September 2007 Sainsbury’s also launched the kitchen caddy, which can sit on a kitchen counter, or window ledge, to make home composting more accessible.
Advice to others
- Companies need to take a longer-term view in what can be sustainable (For example, home compostable packaging on this scale cannot be done overnight and was a result of trials/research for years).
- Companies need to invest in sustainability.
- Develop sustainable activities that do the right thing, rather than something that is just focused on PR.
- Adhere to European standards and be aware of genetically modified (GM) products
- Create something that makes life easier for customers – creating something that will make a difference.
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