The food industry, or at least elements of it, announced the founding partners for the second phase of its war on plastic packaging last week.

With 55 signatories, including retailers, suppliers and academics, the UK Packaging Pact’s initial lineup was announced as the UK Plastics Pact came to an end. The first pact achieved mixed results, albeit with some big gains in stripping plastic from supermarket shelves.

But as The Grocer revealed, the new agreement now faces a battle to win backing, with many of the UK’s biggest companies notably absent.