Almost all of Britain’s major supermarkets have pledged to transform their plastic usage by dropping single-use plastics and using recyclable materials by 2025.
Led by campaigners Wrap, more than 40 UK organizations in total signed up to the UK Plastics Pact, driven by concern for plastic pollution in the oceans.
Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s all joined the pact, with Waitrose and discounters Aldi and Lidl also signing up. The organizations who enlisted contribute to 80 per cent of UK plastic pollution according to Wrap.
All of them have previously committed to their own targets, but Wrap’s plastics pledge marks the first collaborative approach, which they hope will be replicated in other countries to form a powerful global movement for change.
The voluntary agreement sets out the following targets:
- Eliminate problematic or unnecessary single-use plastic packaging through redesign, innovation or alternative (re-use) delivery models.
- 100% of plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable
- 70% of plastic packaging effectively recycled or composte
- 30% average recycled content across all plastic packaging
Speaking at the launch event, Defra secretary of state Michael Gove said: “Our ambition to eliminate avoidable plastic waste will only be realised if government, businesses and the public work together.
“Industry action can prevent excess plastic reaching our supermarket shelves in the first place. I am delighted to see so many businesses sign up to this pact and I hope others will soon follow suit.”
Sainsbury’s CEO, Mike Coupe, added: “We all have a role to play in reducing the amount of plastics used in society. For our part we accept our responsibilities and are working hard to reduce the use of plastic across our business.”
