Supermarkets have agreed to work together in a co-ordinated rollout of a reusable packaging model “at scale” by 2030.
A statement, signed by nine of the UK’s big food retailers, said that while previous trials had been carried out in isolation, the next phase would be to develop standardised packaging across swathes of products to shift the dial in the war on plastic.
However, while the move is being seen as a big step forward for reuse technology, the commitment stops short of any formal target. This is despite recent research showing that if retailers switched to a 30% reuse model supermarkets could save tens of millions on EPR fees every year and slash carbon emissions.
The Grocer revealed in November that supermarkets were gearing up to launch a second major push on reuse and refill technology in a Plastics Pact Mark II being drawn up by Wrap. The climate change body had said there was a “clear appetite” across the industry to agree on new standardised principles for an “at scale” rollout of the technology, despite a series of individual retailer trials being scrapped.
UK Plastics Pact grocery members, Aldi, Asda, Co-op, Lidl GB, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose have now signed a “statement of intent” to explore how reusable packaging could be implemented across their stores and online.
It says: “We, the grocery retailers of the UK supported by Innovate UK, Wrap and Defra, Daera, Scottish government and Welsh government, have a common ambition to work together to enable increased consumer adoption and participation in a circular economy by exploring how reusable packaging (with a focus on prefill) could be implemented through interoperable systems.
“Recognising the challenges to achieving this at scale, we intend to collaborate on an approach that has the potential to deliver a reduction in single-use packaging by 2030.”
The group say they would take on the learnings from previous localised pilots to consider a “more co-ordinated approach and solution where reusable packaging (prefill) is possible and easy to use wherever you shop”.
Last month, The Grocer revealed new data from GoUnpackaged showed that moving to 30% reuse could deliver huge financial and environmental benefits for the UK, including a £136m annual saving for producers in packaging EPR costs on products in scope, and a 95% reduction in CO2 emissions, for the products in scope.
Retailers have also ditched plans for the widespread rollout of refill technology, despite this forming a key part of early trials, after research showed lack of consumer appetite and a negative impact on stores.
Instead, the focus is on developing standardised reuse technology for packaging with a system that makes it easy to shop for prefilled items in stores and online.
James Bull, head of packaging at Tesco and chair of the retailer group, said: “Unlocking reuse for UK retailers and their customers will only be achieved through collaboration and shared goals.
“Today’s joint statement of intent is an important first step in realising our collective ambition. It also signposts to our wider supply chains our intent to build reuse at scale, increase circularity in our packaging and help customers move away from single-use to a more reusable future.”
Wrap has been employed to act as secretariat for the retailer group as it seeks to align goals, infrastructure and look in more detail at what changes consumers would support.
However, the announcement noticeably lacks any mention of suppliers.
Wrap said the next stage would a September webinar for brands, manufacturers and suppliers to engage with the Reuse Packaging Partnership.
Keith James, Wrap interim director for behaviour change & business programmes, added: “Wrap is proud to support this pioneering partnership. It marks a bold step towards a future where reusable packaging is the norm, not the exception. It shows what is possible when we work with retailers and governments with a shared purpose that can benefit everyone.”
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