Sainsbury’s has pledged to halve its plastic packaging on food and beverage products across its operations by 2025.
The supermarket reduced plastic packaging by just 1% last year so, unsurprisingly, its keen to scale up its efforts.
At present, it uses almost 120,000 tonnes of plastic packaging per year and believes a “transformational leap” in thinking is required to move the industry beyond existing efforts at reducing packaging.
To meet this goal, Sainsbury’s will launch a programme to accelerate change, which will include switching to alternative materials, using lighter-weight plastics and introducing refillable packaging at scale.
Following rigorous analysis of its plastic footprint, the key areas of focus for the biggest impact are: plastic milk bottles, packaging for fruit and vegetables, fizzy drinks, water and fruit juices.
Some of these alternatives will require customers to change their behaviour – for example, plastic milk bottles are currently one of largest sources of plastic packaging.
Sainsbury’s is also reviewing alternative options including the introduction of refillable bottles, introducing returnable milk bottles or offering a reusable jug with milk in a lightweight plastic pouch.
To achieve its ambition, Sainsbury’s will pioneer new ways to collaborate with food manufacturers, packaging suppliers, raw material scientists and other retailers, alongside the waste and recycling industry.
It is also looking to open source ideas. From today, it will have an area on its website for customers, colleagues, manufacturers, entrepreneurs and other interested parties to submit ideas to help reduce plastic packaging.
Sainsbury’s will work with Greenpeace on this commitment and will report publicly on progress every six months.
