Last month, Sainsburys joined the Flexible Plastic Fund, an initiative that aims to fully recycle flexible plastics. These notes guarantee that an equivalent amount of packaging has been recycled. They want all those things that have previously been lurking unloved in my bin, even coffee bags, food pouches, biscuit wrappers and crisp packets. I have a very comical photo of the staff stating bewildered at the notice. Earlier this year, Greenpeace found plastic waste from UK retailers dumped, burned, piled up and left to spill into the sea in Turkey. The scheme enabled customers in the North East of England to recycle polypropylene (PP) film, which is found on many popular supermarket items but is not recycled at kerbside by most local authorities in England. It took me ages to find any details but heres a link which opens a pdf with all the stores offering plastic collection Eventually they found the collection bin,which was far too small to take my bags. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies -, louise.tennekoon@bishopsstortfordindependent.co.uk. Tesco said the soft plastic collected in its stores was currently being recycled into bin liners at a recycling facility in Derbyshire but Nina Schrank, senior plastics campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said supermarkets were still producing far too much plastic. I consent to GlobalData UK Limited collecting my details provided via this form in accordance with the, Introducing the Excellence Awards & Rankings 2022, Future-proofing food processing and packaging, The future of packaging from linear to circular, Packaging Industry Mergers and Acquisitions Deals by Top Themes in Q2 2022 Thematic Research. Tick the boxes of the newsletters you would like to receive. Roar B2B, First Floor, The supermarket said the front of store recycling points will make it easier than ever for customers to make more sustainable choices by offering a trustworthy recycling system where they can correctly dispose of flexible plastic packaging. The retailer has also been announced as the Principal Supermarket Partner for the United Nations international climate change conference, COP26, taking place this November. An initiative to increase the amount of plastic packaging being recycled is generating momentum across the UK, but complaints are surfacing about the fate of the material once it arrives in Poland and questions over duty of care have been raised. So, the FPF only really adds environmental value if it's in the context of an overall plastics reduction strategy. Initially piloted in the North East of England, the system lets customers recycle all flexible plastic packaging, including crisp packets, food pouches, salad bags and cake wrappers. Conor McGlone investigates, Get more great articles like this straight to your inbox. Making recycling easier for our customers is a key part of our strategy to minimise the impact of single-use plastics on the environment, alongside our own ambitious target of reducing the use of plastics in our own operations by 50% by 2025.. Sainsburys, as the first retailer to make a commitment to halve its use of plastic packaging by 2025, has also led the way with the removal of single use plastic bags from loose produce, 70% reduction of plastic in its Taste the Difference and SO Organic lamb and steak packaging and removed over 297 tonnes of waste plastic by working with Prevented Ocean Plastic to repurpose plastic collected from the coast into packaging for its strawberry and fresh fish ranges. It is still keeping its cards close to its chest regarding the compliance and recycling partners involved in the programme. But pinning them down produces nothing of any relevance or blank looks. UK grocer Sainsburys has announced 520 of its stores across the UK will now offer a flexible plastic packaging recycling scheme. Separate research from the Flexible Packaging Consortiumrevealed that some 215 billion pieces of flexible plastic packaging are placed on the UK market every year and that almost all of this material is sent to landfill or incineration. The list of flexible plastic film accepted in Sainsburys stores as part of the packaging recycling scheme is listed below. These soft plastic recycling points are being introduced as a way to convince shoppers that supermarkets are taking action on the plastics crisis that they continue to fuel, she said. The move comes after the retailer completed a successful trial, which started in the north-east of England in February. This includes packaging such as crisp packets, food pouches, salad bags and biscuit and cake wrappers which 83% of UK local authorities currently dont accept for recycling. It cited a report from waste prevention charity Wrap, which estimated flexible film contributed towards 290,000 tonnes of plastic packaging waste in 2019. Other supermarkets, including Tesco, Aldi and Coop, are trialing similar schemes. We use cookies to give you the best experience and to learn about your use of our site for advertising and analytics purposes. No recycling bins are at Customer Service desk as this store. Please login or Register to leave a comment. Sainsburys has also been announced as the principal supermarket partner for the United Nations international climate change conference, COP26, which takes place this November in Glasgow. Sainsburys told Green Retail World at the time of the trial that the plastic is sorted and recycled into pellets for use in injection moulded applications for manufacturing items such as dustpans, buckets and flower pots. None of my local stores have any publicity about this new scheme and all that has been done is for small signs to be added to their very small bins that normally take plastic bags for recycling which are always full! Sainsburys announced last week that following a trial in the north east of England, it was rolling out its flexible packaging trial to a total of 520 supermarkets across the UK. Eurokey says it aims to enable closed looped systems where waste produce can be recycled and placed back in the market where it originated. Some of it seems unavoidable (frozen veg and Quorn packs), but some of it I can definitely cut down on. Making recycling easier for our customers is a key part of our strategy to minimise the impact of single-use plastics on the environment, alongside our own ambitious target of halving the use of plastics in our own operations by 2025.. Is the waste going to be recycled or is it going to end up polluting a river or a beach somewhere? Available to watch on-demand: edies Climate Finance Week online events, Tesco removes plastic wrapping from soft drinks multipacks, Tesco ends trials of refillable products through TerraCycles Loop platform. When approached by ENDS, Sainsburys declined to provide details of the tonneages involved and where the material - which is often highly contaminated - was likely to end up. An exciting opportunity has become available to work full time on a 26-month Knowledge Transfer Partnership. Claire Hughes, director of product and innovation at Sainsburys, said: Were really excited to announce the mass rollout of the Flexible Plastics Recycling scheme in over 520 of our stores, helping our customers to recycle more of their plastic packaging, instead of it ending up as waste. 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Currently, around 83% of UK local authorities currently dont accept these materials for recycling. Making recycling easier for our customers is a key part of our strategy to minimise the impact of single-use plastics on the environment, alongside our own ambitious target of reducing the use of plastics in our own operations by 50% by 2025.. Its a complete farce! I'll be taking my own string veg bags and a cotton bread bag along with me when I do my shopping (I just picked a bread bag up for 3.99 from newlivingstore.co.uk). Sainsburys has yet to confirm where the plastic will be recycled for the wider scheme. The companys director of product and innovation Claire Hughes said: Were really excited to announce the mass rollout of the Flexible Plastics Recycling scheme in over 520 of our stores, helping our customers to recycle more of their plastic packaging, instead of it ending up as waste. Our monthly Summary Report covers legislation and consultation deadlines in key sectors, Visit our Big Issue page to get the latest on the Environment Bill, aimed at maintaining environmental standards post-Brexit. They all rank among the top 10 worst plastic polluters globally, with PepsiCo alone generating a staggering 2.3 million tonnes of plastic waste a year. The system is part of Sainsburys initiative to reduce, reuse, replace and recycle plastic across its operations. As for me, I decided to celebrate the launch of the scheme by clearing out my hoard of plastic bags which built up over lockdown, as shown on this page. Sainsburys Product and Innovation director Claire Hughes said: Were really excited to announce the mass rollout of the Flexible Plastics Recycling scheme in more than 520 of our stores, helping our customers to recycle more of their plastic packaging instead of having it end up as waste. I am more sceptical when it comes to the big brands involved in the fund. Following a successful trial in the North East of England, Sainsburys has rolled out an innovative new recycling system to a total of 520 supermarkets allowing customers to recycle all flexible plastic packaging which is not commonly accepted for kerbside collection by local authorities. The major supermarkets and the manufacturers (Purina for example) and Terracycle boast of their green credentials and claim that they operate recycling schemes for pet food pouches. They have taken some baby steps to reduce packaging on some product lines, but it's small beer so far. However, an investigation by ENDS earlier this month revealed that the company contracted by to recycle the material for both Sainsburys and Tesco is locked in a legal dispute with authorities in Poland, and is unwilling to provide details about the ultimate fate of the material. We need a fundamental shake up, the amount of plastic on their shelves drastically reduced and innovative reuse models introduced that allow packaging to stay out of the environment, and in a loop where it is used, washed and refilled again, said Schrank. You get the picture. The UK produces over 300,000 tonnes of this waste a year, but only recycles 6% of it. E&T revealed in February that the firm in question, Eurokey, had its exportaccreditation suspendedlast year after mislabelling the type of plastic it exported to Turkey. According to the retailer, the expanded initiative has the potential to significantly decrease the amount of plastic packaging going to landfill. In an ideal world we would be feasting on garden-grown veg, homemade pittas, weekly batches of home-baked biscuits and my kids wouldn't eat crisps. While there are requirements that the material should then be recycled to an equivalent standard to the UK, it is very difficult to check, he added. The fund only pays for the PRNs when the final recycled product has been produced (rather than when the plastics are collected) and pays more for higher quality products. The Government has to show greater urgency too, by setting targets to reduce the amount of unnecessary plastic produced in the UK each year.". Very frustrating. Speaking in front of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee, Jacob Hayler, executive director of the Environmental Services Association (ESA) said firms do not have to pre-notify the EA about where they are exporting waste making it very challenging for them to be able to regulate that appropriately. Following E&Ts investigation, Bloomberg placed digital trackers inside three used plastic items and deposited them in Tesco storefront collection bins. London SE1 0AX, Environment Media Group Ltd 2022. The supermarket is striving to halve its plastic use by 2025. The ultimate goal of the fund is to create a fully circular recycling model, in which all plastic wrapping put on the market is collected and recycled into more flexible plastic, eliminating waste.