Lidl is extending its use of packaging made from recovered ocean-bound plastic to its Deluxe sausages.
The discounter’s 400g and XXL 667g Deluxe sausages are from this week packaged in trays made up of a minimum 30% ‘prevented ocean plastic’ (POP).
The POP is made from discarded water bottles collected from within 30 miles of a coastline or ocean-feeding waterway in Southeast Asia. The waste is sorted and processed in conjunction with Bantam Materials, and is fully traceable, with a robust documented chain of accountability, according to Lidl.
The supermarket has been using POP in its packaging since 2020, when it introduced it on 13 fresh fish lines. It has since extended it to most of its own label fresh fish and some of its breaded poultry, and in the process prevented the equivalent of a claimed 15 million plastic water bottles from entering the ocean.
The latest move will prevent an estimated further 1.7 million bottles – over 40 tonnes of plastic – from entering the ocean each year, according to Lidl.
A number of other supermarkets also use recovered ocean-bound plastic in packaging. Aldi introduced it on own label fishcakes and crispbakes last year, while Waitrose started using it for 71 products ranging from fruit & veg to new ready meals. Like Lidl, Waitrose and Aldi get the material from Bantam.
“As the first UK supermarket to have launched packaging using POP, we are so proud to have now prevented the equivalent of over 15 million plastic water bottles from entering the ocean,” said Amali Bunter, Lidl GB head of responsible sourcing and ethical trade.
“Of course, our commitment to tackling the detrimental impact of plastic waste doesn’t end there and we’ll continue to work with our suppliers to build on our efforts.”
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