Packaging Levels Need to Fall Further
Supermarkets and smaller groceries across Britain are trying to reduce and/or reuse packaging but with mixed results according to the latest assessment by the Local Government Association (LGA). Based on analysis of 29 common grocery items from six leading supermarkets, a local retailer, and a market by the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB), it appears that "up to 38 percent of food packaging in a typical supermarket shopping basket cannot be recycled," according to a report in The Guardian. This represents a mere two percent improvement since last year.
Both issues - overall packaging and recyclable packaging - were examined. Many items had "excessive and unnecessary" packaging including a boxed fresh pizza with a plastic or polystyrene base as well as shrink-wrap. Biscuits came in plastic tubes, with some also having trays.
Amongst the improvements cited were instances of unwrapped (as opposed to shrink-wrapped) broccoli. The average weight of packaging has reduced by five percent, but the proportion of it that is recyclable has changed little, the study found.
Paul Bettison, chairman of LGA's environment board, commended the progress made, saying, "Families will be pleased to see that more packaging in their shopping baskets can now be recycled." But he added that "there is still a lot further to go" if Britain is to meet its recycling targets and avoid landfill tax.
In another survey of the most environmentally friendly brands, however, five of the country's biggest grocers scored in the top 10 with their green advertising campaigns. Conducted by two of WPP's marketing consultancies, Landor, Cohn & Wolfe and PSB, 1,500 people responded to campaigns discouraging plastic bags and packaging. Several supermarkets in last year's top 10 moved up the rankings this year.
"There is a direct correlation between being more green and people wanting to buy more from you," according to one of the consultants. "People look for practical, substantive examples of action that they can relate to." Having said that they like the ads, however, 94 percent of the respondents also felt that products, especially food, were over-packaged and that supermarkets could do more.
Discussion questions: Has the supermarket and consumer packaged goods industry put a high enough priority around reducing packaging or is it mostly still talk at this point? Have you seen any significant changes in either the overall amount of packaging or the amount of recyclable packaging? What can supermarkets and their vendors do to reduce levels further?