Plastic Attack

A lot of food comes wrapped in plastic. Sometimes this is necessary because it protects the product and keeps it fresher for longer, resulting in less food waste. But some of it is surplus to requirements – we recognise this. So we’re working hard to remove problematic plastic from our business. We’re undertaking trials on substitute packaging materials using barrier technologies that can increase shelf life to reduce food waste.

Where we can’t eliminate plastic (for good reason), we want to ensure that it’s not only made from recycled plastic, but can be recycled again and again. For food packaging, that means it must be easily recovered through the household recycling stream in a way that doesn’t confuse the consumer. We’ve phased out the use of black plastic and all of our preformed food trays now contain a minimum of 65 per cent recycled content and we’ve invested in new machinery to manage the transition from non-recycled to recyclable materials.

It’s a big challenge, but we are working with our packaging suppliers to find suitable solutions, and with other businesses through The UK Plastics Pact to effect the scale of change needed. We are also calling on the government to put in place policies that can encourage investment in the right type of recycling we need for our national economy.