Supermarkets and Manufacturers Pledge to Reduce Plastic Waste : A pact that aims to significantly reduce plastic waste and pollution over the next seven years was signed by more than 40 businesses, including major food, drink and non-food brands, manufacturers and retailers. The âUK Plastics Pactâ was formed by the Government, trade associations and campaigners and was launched by sustainability campaign group WRAP.
The Pact members include the Big Four grocers, Aldi, Lidl and manufacturers such as Britvic, Coca-Cola, Nestle, P&G and Premier Foods. The 42 signatories are reported to be responsible for over 80% of the plastic packaging on products sold throughout UK supermarkets.
By signing this Pact, the businesses have committed to hit a series of targets by 2025 that will significantly reduce plastic waste. These include: eliminate problematic or unnecessary single-use plastic packaging through redesign, innovation or alternative delivery models; 100% of plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable; 70% of plastic packaging effectively recycled or composted; and 30% average recycled content across all plastic packaging.
This requires a wholescale transformation of the plastics system and can only be achieved by bringing together all links in the chain under a shared commitment to act. That is what makes the UK Plastics Pact unique. It unites every body, business and organisation with a will to act on plastic pollution. We will never have a better time to act, and together we can, said WRAP CEO, Marcus Gover.
Morrisons, which is one of the supermarkets that signed the new pact, has revealed its own plastic reduction strategy. The group promises to make all its own brand packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025 alongside a range plans to reduce plastic use within its stores. Morrisons will allow customers to use their own containers to buy meat and fish from its Market Street food counters and will trial the removal of plastic packaging from fresh produce in a number of stores. It is also planning to phase out black plastic trays used for fish and meat by the end 2019 and fit drinking water fountains into new stores to cut down on bottle use.
Even though some businesses has shown their enthusiasm towards this Pact, some other retailers such as Iceland and Co-op have not signed up to the pact saying the measures put forward did not go far enough.
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