Apples, courgettes, and broccoli - these are just some of the food items you’ll likely see wrapped in unnecessary single-use plastic packaging in any of the major UK supermarkets and this is a huge problem.
The UK produces far too much plastic waste. It is one of the highest per capita users of plastic globally and the vast majority of plastic produced has not been recycled. It is used briefly and then left to decay on the planet for hundreds of years, never fully breaking down and resulting in highly polluting microplastics. Or, if it is destined for recycling, it’s often exported for other countries to bear the burden, with UK exports resulting in plastic pollution elsewhere in the world.
We are calling on UK supermarkets to significantly reduce their reliance on single-use plastics.
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The devastation of soft plastics
With bags and food wrappers also being among the most common items found polluting our oceans and entangling animals, the scale of the negative impact of using non-essential single-use plastics is clear and has got to stop.
Supermarkets can be part of the solution
Supermarkets have the power to influence positive change. Since surveying them, the top UK supermarkets have made voluntary pledges to address their use of single-use plastic packaging. However, the scale and pace of the progress we have monitored to date is not nearly enough. Research shows that supermarkets can easily decrease their plastic packaging by at least half, including the use of soft plastics. This can include stopping the use of single-use plastic packaging for fruit and vegetables. We all know that reduction, not recycling or attempted recycling of lighter plastic packaging, is the answer.
