Retailers and brands shed packaging

Retailers and big-brand names have pledged their commitment to reducing the carbon and environmental impact of their products’ packaging.

The Courtauld Commitment 2, the voluntary agreement between retailers, WRAP and brand owners, has moved away from solely weight-based targets, aiming to achieve more sustainable use of resources over the entire lifecycle of products, throughout the whole supply chain.

So far, major retailers Asda, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Marks & Spencer have signed up. As for brands, Constellation Europe, Foster’s and Molson Coors Brewing Company are also in on the deal.

The move will contribute further towards results such as the 500,000 tonnes less packaging that was used between 2005 and 2009 as a result of retailers’ commitment to Courtauld.

Hilary Benn, secretary of state for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said: “Grocery manufacturers and retailers have already started to take action and halted the increase in packaging.

"The new Commitment sees them go further than ever in reducing food waste and packaging, and making it smarter – and I want to see members of the industry continuing to sign-up over the coming months.”

WRAP and the British Retail Consortium (BRC) have also launched another joint scheme entitled On-pack Recycling Labelling, which has has been developed by BRC to give consumers better information about what can be recycled and how.

The BRC aims to “deliver a simpler, UK-wide, consistent, recycling message on both retailer private label and brand-owner packaging to help consumers recycle more material, more often.”

Rupert Millar, 22.03.2010