51% of food and drink ‘unnecessarily’ packaged in plastic

The report – named The Material Change Index – investigated packaging materials in 25 of the most popular supermarkets across six European markets: UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Poland. 

After analysing 1,500 groceries, researchers found that up to 29.8 billion avoidable pieces of plastic packaging are produced annually in the UK. 

Most of the plastic packaging came from processed food, bread rice and cereals, dairy products and meat and fish. 

The UK was also found to be the most reliant on plastic packaging, with 70% of all food and drink items on British shelves containing plastic, compared to Spain (67%), Italy (66%), Germany (66%), Poland (62%) and France (59%). 

Barriers to reducing plastic packaging 

As part of the research, European food manufacturers and retailers were surveyed on their plastic habits. 98% were found to have commitments to reduce their plastic packaging – with 60% left with two years or under to reach their voluntary targets. A quarter of the 60% say they are on track to reach them.  

Two in five (40%) identified the cost of raw material as the biggest obstacle to reaching reducing plastic packaging, closely followed by the fear that consumers would not accept changes (39%).   

Those surveyed also worried that shifts in packaging would make them less competitive. 72% believed that shoppers do not want to pay extra for sustainable packaging and 65% think they wouldn’t want to sacrifice convenience for sustainability.   

Calling on support from the government 

Miles Roberts, group chief executive at DS Smith, said: “Good progress has been made but there is evidently a great deal more to do. We think government can and should be more demanding of us all – phasing out certain plastics to help create a level playing field that encourages innovation, investment, and generates healthy competition to replace plastic.  

“With some of the biggest brands in the world we estimate that we have been able to replace more than 1 billion pieces of plastic over the last four years, but it is the tip of the iceberg and we must do more. The opportunity to meet consumer demand for more sustainable packaging is significant and we hope the Government’s forthcoming Circular Economy Strategy will find ways to support the use of materials that are more readily recyclable.”