Since 2017, EIA has partnered with Greenpeace UK to conduct surveys into the plastic policies and practices of the top 10 supermarkets in the UK. We work directly with companies to assess their plastic footprint while advocating for plastic reduction and system change.
We have published three Checking Out on Plastics reports, in addition to briefings exploring areas within the survey such as agricultural plastics, non-conventional plastics and company positions on government policy.
In 2017, 2018 and 2019, we asked retailers about their targets for plastic reduction and accompanying strategies, as well as their progress on reuse, refill and recyclability. Our assessment also looks at plastics in the supply chain, covering issues such as agricultural plastics, plastic fishing gear and plastic pellets, flakes and powders.
Since our initial baseline survey, all of the top 10 UK grocery retailers now have a time-bound reduction target to reduce their plastic footprint. However, we have also seen the overall plastic footprint for the sector increase by 1.2 per cent between 2017-19.
We continue to work with retailers on driving ambitious policy on plastic reduction, increasing transparency and shifting to sustainable systems that reduce the reliance on single use packaging.
