Checking Out on Plastics II:Breakthroughs and backtracking from supermarkets

ABOUT  GREENPEACE

Greenpeace defends the naturalworld and promotes peace byinvestigating, exposing andconfronting environmental abuse and championingresponsible solutions for ourfragile environment.

ABOUT  EIA

We investigate and campaignagainst environmental crime andabuse. Our undercover investigationsexpose transnational wildlife crime,with a focus on elephants, pangolinsand tigers, and forest crimes such asillegal logging and deforestation forcash crops like palm oil. We work tosafeguard global marine ecosystemsby addressing the threats posed by plastic pollution, bycatch andcommercial exploitation of whales,dolphins and porpoises. Finally, we reduce the impact of climatechange by campaigning to eliminatepowerful refrigerant greenhousegases, exposing related illicit tradeand improving energy efficiency inthe cooling sector.

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November 2019

CONTENTS

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Executive Summary

Background

Methodology

Results of supermarket ranking

Summary of survey responses

Conclusions

Recommendations

Glossary

References

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l Total plastic packaging used by the UK’s biggest supermarkets has risen from an estimated 886,000 tonnes in 2017 to 903,000 tonnes in 2018*..1 This increase was driven by sales of branded products; plastic packaging associated with these items increased by nearly 20,000 tonnes.

l Companies at the top of the 2019 league table, Waitrose and Morrisons, performed best in reducing their overall plastic footprint and making commitments to scale-up packaging-free and reuse solutions. Those at the bottom have achieved the least tangible progress over the past 12 months. As with last year, there remains scope for considerable progress even among the top performers.

l A growing number of companies are trialling reusable and refillable ranges. These initiatives need scaling up nationwide and across a full range of product lines if they are to significantly reduce throwaway packaging in the UK.

l The number of plastic reduction targets has doubled from five to 10, with all the major grocery retailers now committed, at least in principle, to reducing plastic use. However, almost all of these targets are set relative to sales – meaning that a company can increase its overall plastic footprint but still achieve the target. Moreover, many companies intend to meet targets through ‘light-weighting’ and swapping plastic with other single-use materials, meaning that a shift away from single-use is not guaranteed.

l Soaring sales of so-called ‘bags for life’ demonstrate that these are now used by many

customers as a single-use option. In 2018, eight companies reported they were using 960 million bags for life; in 2019, the same eight companies reported 1.24 billion, with an additional 271 millionsold by two further supermarkets. Tesco’s annual sales represent almost 11 bags for life for every person in the UK, while Iceland increased sales nearly tenfold from 2017-18.

l Despite recyclability being the main focus of industry efforts, the percentage of own-brand plastic packaging classed as ‘widely recycled’ has dropped from 64.7% in 2017 to 63.8% in 2018, on a weight basis. On a per-item basis, it is likely that less than a third of own-brand plastic packaging items are classed as ‘widely recycled’, due to the presence of more numerous but lighter materials such as films. This suggests that about two-thirds of supermarkets’ own-brand plastic packaging items cannot be widely recycled.

l Some progress has been made by supermarkets in the past year towards addressing plastics along the grocery supply chain. Best practices must now be enforced through introducing criteria based upon these into fisheries and agricultural supplier policies.

* N.B. In 2018, our report noted that the 10 largest supermarkets reported to have put 810,000 tonnes of single-use plastic packaging on the market; however, this figure did not include branded sales by Asda, which had not been reported. The 886,000 tonne figure reported here includes an estimate provided by Asda for these sales (~65,000 tonnes) in order to make a more accurate comparison to this year’s complete dataset. Co-op and Lidl provided updated data from the previous year, which increased the total by another 11,000 tonnes.

Executive SummaryOur throwaway convenience culture costs the earth. Resources are being extracted, manufactured andtransported to be used just once. Ever-growing mountains of mixed plastic waste are impossible to recycleand are usually dumped in landfill sites, incinerated or leaked into the natural environment. There has been anunprecedented level of public and political focus on the plastic pollution crisis in recent years. Despite this,the second survey conducted by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Greenpeace UK revealsthat little tangible progress has been made in the past year by the UK’s largest supermarkets towardsreducing their use of throwaway plastics.

It is time for supermarkets to accelerate commitments and scale up actions, moving from small-scale trialsto support a truly circular and zero-waste economy. Supermarkets have a vital role to play as a catalyst forchange, given their pivotal location in the grocery value chain between customers and suppliers. This reportis a wake-up call for faster action, providing a series of recommendations and best practice case studies.

In 2018, EIA and Greenpeace UK undertook the first comprehensive study to gain a better understanding ofhow UK supermarkets are planning to address the plastic pollution crisis. This report summarises actiontaken since then, with the following key findings:

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The grocery retail sector is currently highlydependent on packaging designed to be used justonce and thrown away; adding fuel to the pollutionand waste crisis that is evident around the world.Of the five million tonnes of plastic used in the UKevery year, half is plastic packaging.2

Supermarkets are well-positioned to catalyse afundamental shift in the systems that deliverproducts to people, through significantly reducingall but the most essential single-use packaging andsupporting a wholesale shift into packaging-freeand reusable solutions.

To date, most Government and industry attentionhas focused on recycling, which has an importantrole to play but cannot solve the problem alone. In order to close the gap between rising plasticconsumption and limited recycling capacity, afocus on reduction is required. Without a significantturnaround in industry trends, UK plastic packagingwaste will increase by 22% between 2018 and 2030.3

Currently, only about a third of UK consumer plasticpackaging is officially reported as ‘recycled’ andabout half of this is exported. This calls intoquestion the amount ultimately recycled, given thelack of waste management infrastructure in manyrecipient countries, including those in South-EastAsia where there are high levels of plastic pollutionleakage into the marine environment.4

Plastic production and consumption affects humanhealth; we are exposed to a large variety of toxicchemicals and harmful pollutants throughout theplastic lifecycle.5 Plastic poses significant threatsto marine, freshwater and terrestrial fauna; itharms soil ecosystems and emits toxic chemicalswhen burnt. Simply substituting single-use plasticwith other single-use materials is no solutioneither.6 All materials have environmental andsocial costs, including resource consumptionconcerns associated with pulp, paper7,8 and glass;9

and pollution and health risks regarding bauxiteore mining for aluminium production.10

Addressing the plastic problem requires afundamental rethink of modern consumerism, notjust fast-fix solutions. It requires us to challengebranding and marketing practices that encourageus to buy more than we need. It requires a shift toseasonal and local diets, shortening supply chainsthat otherwise result in huge amounts of air milesand packaging. It requires us to challenge theprevailing convenience culture and over-consumption that drive so many of the world’senvironmental challenges. Grocery retailers are ina prime position to help inspire the transformationalchanges we need.

BackgroundOur planet faces a biodiversity and climate emergency. Without a significantturnaround in resource consumption and a shift towards circular and zero-waste economies, these problems cannot be addressed. Plastic pollution isthe ugly and unacceptable face of a crisis that goes deeper. It has raisedunprecedented public awareness of the scale and impact of over-consumptionand our throwaway culture.

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In May 2019, EIA and Greenpeace UK sent a surveyto 16 UK grocery retailers to gain insight into howthe sector is working to tackle plastic pollution, andto track progress towards targets and policiesreported in our 2018 Checking Out on Plasticssurvey.11 The survey was sent to the UK’s 10 largestsupermarkets (see Table 1) and online grocery giantOcado, as well as five other grocery retailers withmore than 1,000 stores in 2018, namely Bestway(2,000 stores), Booker Group (5,556 stores), Costcutter(1,776 stores), McColl’s (1,242 stores) and SPAR UK(2,555 stores).12 Themes covered were consistentwith the 2018 survey, with additional questions totrack progress towards commitments and targets.

Of the leading UK grocery retailers, the only non-respondent was Ocado, which also failed to respond to the 2018 survey. The response rate forconvenience chain stores was poor again this year;only Costcutter and McColl’s provided a fullresponse to the survey while SPAR UK submitted apartial response. A large data gap therefore remainsamong the UK’s leading convenience chains,including those owned by Booker Group (such asPremier, Londis and Budgens) and Best-One.

Most of the data collected in this year’s surveycovers the 2018 calendar year; however, somesupermarkets provided data covering slightlydifferent timeframes, namely Aldi (April 2018-19)and Morrisons (February 2018-19).

In order to analyse the data provided bysupermarkets in the 2018 and 2019 surveys inrelation to their market share, we used data fromNielsen Total Till and Nielsen Homescan. Thisdepicts the value-based market share of eachcompany during a 12-week period in 2017 and 2018,as well as the change in sales experienced by eachcompany in the same timeframe (see Table 1). We note that a direct linear relationship betweenmarket share and packaging volume is notnecessarily expected, given that discounters sell a greater number of (packaged) units per poundsterling than other supermarkets.

Methodology

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The survey contained 20 questions aimed atunderstanding the performance of retailersaccording to the following categories:

1. Reduction in plastic footprint and use of reusables: Progress made since the last survey to reduce single-use items and packaging and expand packaging-free and reusable ranges, assessed where relevant against targets and milestones reported in the 2018 survey

2. Forward-looking commitments on reductionand reuse: Level of ambition regarding future-looking reduction and reuse commitments and targets

3. Recyclability and recycled content: Targets, commitments and progress made on removing non-recyclable plastics and increasing recycled content levels

4. Supply chain and stakeholder engagement: Engagement with suppliers (including branded suppliers, agricultural and fisheries suppliers and regarding pre-production plastic pellets), interactions with staff and customers about reducing plastic use, and public policy positions on Government proposals such as Deposit Return Schemes

5. Transparency: Provision of full data regarding plastic items and packaging, as well as information on recyclability and recycled content and public policy positions.

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Scoring methodology

Supermarket responses were reviewed againstobjective criteria to determine a numerical scorebased on the ambition level of the response, withquestions grouped into the five categories. Acombined score was then determined for eachcategory. Questions that were not relevant to aparticular retailer were removed from their scoringcriteria (e.g. if the retailer did not offer onlineshopping). The categories were weighted to place agreater emphasis on achieved reductions of single-use plastic and expansion of reusable and refillableranges, as well as forward-looking commitments onthese areas. This year, points were subtracted topenalise a lack of progress towards targets, as wellas for absolute increases in plastic packaging anditems over the past 12 months. Total scores werecalculated for each retailer and ranked from highestto lowest to produce an overall league table. A third-party organisation, 3Keel, was consulted in thedevelopment of the scorecard.

Convenience chains were not included in the league table, given the limited data and differentcircumstances faced by these companies (e.g. lackof direct control over franchise stores).

% marketshare,measuredover 12weeks to11 August2018

% marketshare,measuredover 12weeks to12 August2017

% increase or decreasein sales vssame 12weeks inpreviousyear

27.1%

13.7%

14.5%

9.8%

5.3%

4.2%

3.3%

2.2%

8.7%

5.6%

Tesco

Asda

Sainsbury's

Morrisons

Co-op

Waitrose

M&S

Iceland

Aldi

Lidl

27.4%

13.7%

14.9%

9.9%

5.2%

4.3%

3.3%

2.2%

8.1%

5.4%

2.2%

3.5%

0.9%

2.2%

6.6%

3.0%

1.2%

5.0%

12.1%

8.1%

Table 1: Market share information and sales change ofsupermarket respondents13

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The 2019 ranking reflects progress made over thepast year to deliver tangible reductions in single-useplastic and move towards packaging-free and reusesolutions. As with last year, the scoring is very closebetween companies, with few achieving high marksunder any of the categories. Even among leadingcompanies there are areas where significantprogress is needed.

This year’s leader, Waitrose, was one of the fewcompanies that reduced its overall plastic footprintand is making progress in scaling-up packaging-free and refill solutions. Morrisons has also showninitiative in this area; we applaud its introduction ofthe first quantified target to increase sales throughreuse and refill ranges.

Looking at last year’s survey ranking, we see goodprogress made by Sainsbury’s in introducingambitious plastic reduction targets and committingto scale up reuse ranges. Iceland has slipped fromfirst place as other companies increase the ambitionof commitments on reduction and reuse. In orderfor the company to reclaim the lead, furtherprogress will be needed on scaling up packaging-

free and reuse solutions, in addition to engagingwith branded suppliers about reducing their plastic footprints.

Companies at the bottom of the league table hadincreased their overall plastic footprint since lastyear and had generally made the least progress todate on trialling and expanding packaging-free andreusable solutions. These companies had experiencedsales growth and noted challenges in reducing theiroverall plastic footprint. With the right systems andapproach in place it will be possible to increasesales while reducing throwaway packaging.

As with last year, the scoring is very close between companies, with few achieving high marksunder any of the categories.

2018 league tableBelow are the results of last year’s survey forcomparison:

1. Iceland2. Morrisons3. Waitrose4. M&S 5. Tesco6. Asda7. Co-op8. Aldi9. Lidl10. Sainsbury’s

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Results of supermarket ranking

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Amount of single-use plastic packagingput on the marketAbsolute packaging footprintSingle-use plastic packaging used by the 10 UKsupermarket giants increased from 886,000 tonnesin 2017 to 903,000 tonnes in 2018. Of this, 536,000tonnes was from own-brand goods, a very slightdecrease from last year’s figure of 537,000 tonnes.Packaging from branded items amounted to 367,000 tonnes, a rise from last year’s estimate of349,000 tonnes.

Seven out of 10 supermarkets reported a higherplastic packaging tonnage in 2019 than in theprevious survey (see Figures 1 and 2). Only Waitrose,Tesco and Sainsbury’s reported slight decreases intheir overall plastic packaging footprint. Theamount of packaging companies place on themarket is proportionate to their market share, withyear-on-year growth in packaging generallycorrelated to increases in sales. The companiesreporting the largest absolute growth include Aldi(up by more than 8,000 tonnes, sales up 12.1%), Asda(5,300 tonnes, sales up 3.5%) and Lidl (3,000 tonnes,sales up 8.1%). Tesco occupies more than a quarterof the UK market (27.1%) and accounts for the

largest amount of primary plastic packaging(259,000 tonnes). Sainsbury’s, with a 14.5% marketshare, placed 119,000 tonnes of plastic packaging onthe shelves, while Asda with a 13.7% market sharedistributed 135,000 tonnes.

Plastic packaging footprint per market shareFigure 3 shows the plastic footprint of supermarketson a market share basis. This demonstrates that allcompanies, except Co-op, have marginallyincreased their packaging footprint per 1% marketshare between 2017 and 2018. We note that there is apotential bias in sales-based value data, given thatdiscounters are likely to sell more items (andtherefore packaging) than other companies permarket share.

Number of single-use plastic packaging itemsIn addition to data on plastic packaging tonnage,eight companies representing 75.4% of the totalmarket share14 reported to have distributed 58.3billion pieces of single-use plastic packaging,compared to seven companies representing 65.6% ofthe market share reporting 51.1 billion pieces in the2018 survey (see Figure 4).15 This suggests a slight(1%) decrease in units per market share since the lastsurvey. Many companies reported challenges incollecting and defining these measurements, so weare cautious in drawing firm conclusions from thisdataset. Nonetheless, it is disappointing that nosignificant downward trend in numbers can be seen.

Unit data gives a better understanding of theamount of packaging being distributed bysupermarkets, since lightweight materials such as film and wrappers make up a smaller proportion

Summary of survey responses

Seven out of 10 supermarketsreported a higher plasticpackaging tonnage in 2019than in the previous survey.

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Figure 1Plastic packaging tonnage (branded and own-brand) placed on the market reported in 2018 and 2019 surveys

Figure 2Change in total plastic packaging footprint (tonnes) reported in 2018 and 2019 surveys

Figure 3Plastic packaging (tonnes) placed on the market per 1% market share (own-brand and branded) reported in 2018 and 2019 surveys

10%

8%

6%

4%

2%

0%

-2%

-4%

Aldi Asda Co-op Iceland Lidl M&S Morrisons

Sainsbury’s Tesco Waitrose

8.8%

4.1%

0.9%

2.6%

5.5%

2.2% 2.3%

-0.6% -0.7%

-2.1%

Own-brand Branded

300,000

250,000

200,000

150,000

100,000

500,00

0

2018 2019

Plas

tic

pack

agin

g pl

aced

on

the

mar

ket (

tonn

es)

Aldi2018 2019

Asda2018 2019

Co-op2018 2019

Iceland2018 2019

Lidl2018 2019

M&S2018 2019Morrisons

2018 2019Tesco

2018 2019Waitrose

2018 2019Sainsbury’s

Own-brand Branded

16,000

14,000

12,000

10,000

8,000

6,000

4,000

2,000

0

2018 2019

Plas

tic

pack

agin

g pl

aced

on

the

mar

ket

per

1% m

arke

t sha

re (t

onne

s)

Aldi2018 2019

Asda2018 2019

Co-op2018 2019

Iceland2018 2019

Lidl2018 2019

M&S2018 2019Morrisons

2018 2019Tesco

2018 2019Waitrose

2018 2019Sainsbury’s

of tonnage figures but account for a significantproportion of plastic packaging items. Units can beunderstood in different ways – as a Customer SalesUnit (i.e. the one ready meal the customer finds inthe freezer) or as individual components of a pieceof packaging (i.e. the ready meal tray, film andcardboard cover each counted separately). In both2018 and 2019 surveys, we requested data based onthe first definition.

Reduction targets – assessment ofcommitments and progress

The top 10 UK supermarkets all now have targets toreduce their plastic packaging footprint. Among themost ambitious are Iceland (100% removal of single-use plastic packaging from own-brand by the end of2023), Sainsbury’s (50% plastic packaging reductionacross branded and own-brand packaging ranges by2025) and Tesco’s commitment to reduce plasticpackaging by 20% over two years across own-brandplastic packaging, removing one billion pieces ofplastic by the end of 2020 (see Table 2).

An industry-wide trend is for the adoption of“relative” targets based on a past ratio of an amountof plastic and amount of sales. This does notguarantee an overall reduction in a company’s

plastic footprint. For example, if a company wasputting one tonne of plastic on the market per£1,000 spent in 2015 and reduced this to 0.8 tonnesof plastic per £1,000 spent in 2020 – but hadsignificantly increased in sales volume over thistime, meaning that more £1,000s were being spent –then the total amount of plastic will have increasedeven though the company would have met itstarget. On the flip side, a decrease in packagingwhich is mainly attributable to a decrease in sales is no cause for celebration either.

Another limitation of many current plasticreduction targets is that they are limited to own-brand ranges. Branded goods typically make up 40-60% of a supermarket’s sales (with the exception ofLidl, M&S and Aldi which are significantly lower). As such, if sales growth in branded productsoutstrip the packaging reductions made in own-brand ranges, a company could increase its overallpackaging footprint while achieving its plasticreduction target.

In the 2018 survey, five companies reported plasticreduction targets in place: Asda, Lidl, Iceland,Morrisons and M&S (see Table 3). All reported theywere on track to achieve these targets, while alsonoting an overall increase in plastic packaging

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Figure 4Total number of units (billions) of plastic packaging placed on the market per company (own-brand and branded). Co-op, Morrisons and Asda were not able to provide this dataset in both years and so have not been included

Waitrose

Tesco

Sainsbury’s

M&S

Lidl

Iceland

Aldi

- 2 4 5 6 10 12 14 16 18 20

Billion units of own-brand and branded plastic packaging sold per company

2019 2018

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(own-brand and branded combined). This highlightsthe limits of targets restricted to own-brand ranges,as well as targets set relative to sales made in acertain year.

When explaining progress made towards targets set,Lidl reported that “against our own-brand reductiontarget we've achieved a 7.9% reduction, relative tonet turnover (£)" . However, given the company’sconsiderable increase in sales, Lidl’s overall plasticfootprint (own-brand and branded) increased from56,459 tonnes reported in 2018 to 59,539 tonnes thisyear. Similarly, Asda reported it had achieved its2018 target to reduce own-brand plastic packagingby 10% relative to 2017 sales (6,500 tonnes). However,the company’s overall plastic packaging footprint

increased by 5,300 tonnes. Asda explained that in“2018 we saw more than 5% growth in own labelsales, as well as an unprecedented hot summer witha number of national events, including the RoyalWedding and the World Cup. This changed theproduct mix towards … some of the biggest plastic-using categories. For example, across pre-packedsalad items and dressings we sold an additional 20million units in 2017.”

Morrisons reported that it was on track to achieveits reduction target in own-brand packaging, but anincrease in branded plastic packaging means thecompany’s overall plastic footprint has grown.Similarly, Iceland successfully reduced its own-brand plastic packaging footprint from 13,000 tonnes

Plastic reductiontarget

Company Timeframe Supporting info provided by companies

Table 2: Reported plastic reduction targets

Reduce plastic packaging 25% by the end of 2023 (gramper product, relative to 2015 baseline). Currently settinginterim targets to 2023.

Reduce own-brand primary plastic packaging by 15% byFebruary 2021, from a 2017 Financial Year baseline.

Reduce own brand plastic footprint by 6% between 2019-2020, using a 2018 baseline (1,144 tonnes).

Eliminate plastic packaging from all own brand productsby the end of 2023

By 2022, reduce own brand primary plastic packaging20% (relative to £ revenue, based on net turnover), using2017 baseline (4% annual reduction from 2018, when thetarget was introduced).

Plastic weight reduction target of 1,000 tonnes forfinancial year 2019 /20 across primary packaging.

25% like-for-like reduction in own-brand plasticpackaging by weight by 2025 (2017 baseline). Eachcommercial team has been set an interim plastic weightreduction target of 4.1% per year.

Reduce plastic packaging by 50% by 2025, includingbranded and own-brand products, as well as plastic usedacross operations.

Reduce total own-brand plastic packaging weight by 20%and remove 1 billion pieces of plastic in the coming year(to 2020).

Reduce single-use plastic in own brand packaging by 20%by the end of 2021 against a 2018 baseline.

2023 (2015 baseline)

2021 (2017 baseline)

2020 (2018 baseline)

2023 (2018 baseline)

2022 (2017 baseline)

2020 (2019 baseline)

2025 (2017 baseline)

2025 (2018 baseline)

2019-2020 (2018 baseline)

2021 (2018 baseline)

25%

15%

6%

100%

20%

1000 tonnes

25%

50%

20%

20%

Aldi

Asda

Co-op

Iceland

Lidl

M&S

Morrisons

Sainsbury’s

Tesco

Waitrose

in 2017 to 10,900 in 2018, despite a sales increase inown-brand goods. However, large increases inpackaging from branded products meant thecompany’s overall plastic packaging footprint rosefrom about 30,000 tonnes reported in 2018 toapproximately 30,800 this year.

In 2018, our survey reported that M&S targeted a 10%reduction in plastic packaging from 2018 to 2020 (5%per annum). This year, the company clarified thatthe target is to reduce 1,000 tonnes for the financialyear 2019/20, which equates to less than 5% perannum. The company reported that “on a like-for-like basis our overall usage of plastic packaging hasdeclined”, reporting a 1,000 tonne decrease in plasticthrough the “elimination of single-use, high volumeunits such as cutlery, straws, produce bags…andlight-weighting”.

All companies are currently achieving targets in alarge part through substitution and light-weighting.Light-weighting is the process of replacingpackaging material with lighter alternatives orcutting down the amount of packaging materialused. While there is a role for light-weighting wherepackaging is excessive, it is not a long-term solutionsince it does not shift the market from single-use.

Substitution of one single-use material for anotheris a false solution to the waste crisis as it simplyshifts the resource burden elsewhere. Examples ofthis practice include Morrisons switching 269tonnes of plastic produce bags with paper-basedalternatives, Tesco replacing 113 tonnes of plastictrays containing apples for pulp-based trays, Icelandsubstituting 100 million ready meal trays withboard-based alternatives and Co-op replacing 78.5tonnes of plastic ready meal trays with aluminiumor board-based.

Rather than light-weighting or substituting plasticfor other single-use materials, we encourage atransition to packaging-free and reusable packagingalternatives. Innovative examples of packagingbeing taken off the shelf altogether include Waitroseremoving the shrink-wrap from multi-packs of tinswithout substitution for another material.16

EIA and Greenpeace recommend that reductiontargets are long-term with ambitious annualreduction milestones, covering branded and own-brand packaging and spanning primary, secondaryand tertiary packaging ranges. The target shouldform part of a strategy to reduce all single-usepackaging, not just plastics. With this in mind, we

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Target reportedin 2018

Company Change in own-brand plasticpackaging reported between2018 and 2019 surveys

Change in overall plasticpackaging reported between2018 and 2019 surveys

Remove all own-brandplastic packaging by 2023

10% reduction in primaryplastic packaging between2018 -2020

20% reduction in own-brandplastic packaging between2017 -2022 (relative to £revenue, based on netturnover)

Remove 6,500 tonnes ofown-brand plasticpackaging by 2019 relativeto 2017 sales

25% like-for-like reductionin own brand plasticpackaging by weight by2025 (2017 baseline).

Iceland

M&S

Lidl

Asda

Morrisons

-2,100 tonnes, 16% decrease

+21 tonnes, 0% change

+3,636 tonnes, 8% increase

+653 tonnes, 1% increase

-2,634 tonnes, 5% decrease

+784 tonnes, 2.6% increase

+559 tonnes, 2.2% increase

+3,080 tonnes, 5.5% increase

+5,300 tonnes, 4.1% increase

+ 2,292 tonnes, 2.8% increase

Sales change between 2018 and 2017

+ 5%

+ 1.2%

+ 8.1%

+ 3.5%

+ 2.2%

Table 3: Progress towards reduction targets reported in 2018

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encourage companies to set parallel targets toreduce single-use packaging of all materials,something which has already been done byWaitrose (to reduce own-brand packaging by a thirdbetween 2018-23), Tesco (to halve packaging weightbetween 2007-25), Sainsbury’s (to halve own brandpackaging between 2005-20) and Aldi (to halvepackaging weight between 2015-25).

Reuse and refill systems andpackaging-free ranges

EIA and Greenpeace support a transition away fromsingle-use packaging as the primary means ofachieving plastic reduction targets, prioritisingpackaging-free ranges and reuse systems at scale.The number of companies trialling reusablealternatives has considerably increased since lastyear, but trials currently remain small in scale andscope. For the first time, a convenience chain, SPAR,reported trials of refill stations for wine, oil, cereals,pulses and detergents in four stores. The companyreported that these had “attracted new customersand additional sales” and noted the trial stores willshare learnings with other SPAR retailers. Somesupermarkets have claimed that the ‘convenience’format of their stores is a hurdle to reusablesystems and we encourage SPAR to share itsexperience across the industry.

Other laudable initiatives include Waitrose’s“Unpacked” store (see case study) and wide-rangingtrials in three Morrisons stores including seeds,pasta, rice, dried fruit, frozen fruit, frozen pies andpastries. In nine stores, Morrisons is trialling anunbranded household cleaning ‘Bottle for Life’, soldwith water-soluble pods for various householdcleaning ranges. Morrisons reported that the cost ofloose and refillable ranges is 10% cheaper thanpackaged counterparts. We strongly encourage allretailers to ensure price-parity at a minimum, inaddition to other incentives to encourage reuse.

Small-scale pilot projects and trials have animportant role to play in designing and testinginnovative ideas, providing lessons and managingrisks prior to the large investments needed to shiftsupply chains nationwide towards reuse formats.Since supermarkets have different customers withdifferent needs, we understand the necessity fortailored approaches. However, the time has nowcome for retailers to take heart from positivecustomer feedback and commit to progressivelyrolling out these systems across their estates. A number of companies are currently scoping outtrials of reuse and refill systems in-store, including

CASE STUDY

Waitrose ‘Unpacked’Oxford store

Waitrose is testing packaging free and refillableconcepts at its 'Unpacked' Botley Road shop inOxford, with more than 160 items of loose fruitand vegetables and 48 other products forcustomers to refill, including pasta and grains,coffee, frozen fruit, beer, wine and cleaningproducts.

Feedback to date has been overwhelminglypositive. Analysis from the 11-week trial hasprovided “confidence that the concept can be asuccess elsewhere” and the company is nowrolling out the concept to three additional stores.The roll-out will include dispensers for driedproducts, frozen ‘pick and mix’, coffee, wine andbeer refills, as well as Ecover detergent andwashing-up liquid refillables. There will be awide range of unpacked fruit and vegetables,changing to reflect the season.

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Asda, Co-op, Lidl, Iceland, Sainsbury’s and M&S.There is clear potential for the introduction ofreusable packaging through online shopping, usingreverse logistics where packaging is retrieved fromcustomers by producers to be refilled for reuse. This is an area few companies have yet to tap into.Tesco is making progress with the ‘Loop’ onlinereusable packaging range, to be launched shortly inpartnership with Terracycle. Morrisons is workingwith Amazon and Ocado to offer refillable/reusablealternatives. Other companies suggested this wasan area they were looking into, without concreteplans at this stage.

Targets on reusablesMorrisons is leading the pack in setting the firstquantifiable target on reusables, namely to doublethe amount of reusable and refillable transactionsyear-on-year. Other companies reported they werealso scoping targets on reuse. We encouragecompanies to adopt ambitious quantified targets inorder to provide suppliers confidence in investing inreusable packaging formats. Targets might bemeasured as a proportion of total sales madethrough reuse and refill ranges.

Loose fruit and vegetable rangesLoose fruit and vegetable sales are growing at twicethe rate of plastic-packed and should be an easyfirst step for supermarkets to take.17 Supermarketswere asked to describe plans and activities toexpand loose product ranges and remove packagingfrom fruit and vegetable ranges. All the majorsupermarkets and SPAR reported trials, often citingdemand from customers as a key reason for theinitiative. Three companies provided informationabout the percentage of fruit and vegetables soldloose as a proportion of the total: Aldi (17%), Asda(18%) and Lidl (16%). Other companies reported the

Morrisons is leading the pack in setting the firstquantifiable target onreusables, namely to doublethe amount of reusable and refillable transactionsyear-on-year.

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Loose vegetables on sale at Waitrose Unpacked store, Oxford

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number of loose product lines: Co-op (30), Sainsbury’s(74) and Waitrose (~90). Morrisons reported it wastrialling 127 varieties of loose fruit and vegetables inpilot stores. Tesco is trialling the removal of packagingfrom fruit, vegetables and bakery products.

Retailers seemed aware of the importance ofensuring that loose fruit and vegetable ranges wereoffered on a price parity with pre-packed ranges.Tesco and Asda reported that no loose line would be more expensive than its pre-packagedequivalent. Sainsbury’s said it had recently reducedthe prices of several loose produce items and waslooking to make further reductions, while M&S isalso working to ensure competitive pricing. Lidl isworking to provide further incentives, includingensuring ‘Pick of the Week’ promotions areexclusively ‘loose’ products.

Food waste and system change

Plastic packaging is often hailed as the best way toprevent food waste; however, the growth in foodwaste has increased alongside the growth in plasticpackaging, with a significant proportion of foodthrown away in Europe still inside plasticpackaging.18 Customer and staff education on foodhandling, preparation and preservation can result in less waste than simply adding more plastic toproducts, and reusable packaging and traditionalapproaches to preserving food can deliver the samefunctionality as single-use packaging.19 Pre-packaged ranges can force people to buy more thanrequired, further contributing to food waste.

The importance of behavioural change wasunderlined in a Morrisons loose fruit and vegetablestrial, where food waste initially increased but thenreturned to average levels after a few weeks as staffand customers adapted their approaches tohandling food. Customers noted the benefits ofloose products as it allows them to purchase theirdesired quantity, size and quality of product – andnoted that purchasing loose has potentially reducedfood waste occurring at home. Morrisons staff alsoadapted well to the changes made in-store and tonew ways of working.

Another driver behind the rise of single-use plasticpackaging is the nature of modern diets, where out-of-season produce is on offer all year round, relyingon single-use packaging.20 Seasonality and shortsupply chains influence the ‘necessity’ ofpackaging. Morrisons removed plastic wrap fromproducts following careful analysis of the foodwaste impact, including fresh swede, British

summer-season cucumbers, asparagus and rhubarb,removing 126 tonnes of plastic. Similarly, Asdaremoved the plastic from British swedes with noproduct deterioration, while Waitrose reported thatseasonality was important for determining whichloose fruit and vegetables the store could offer. Weurge companies to focus more on promoting localand seasonal produce, addressing air miles andpackaging in parallel.

Focus needed to address ‘on-the-go’ plastic waste

An area which presents additional challenges is theconvenience and ‘on-the-go’ food market, such as‘meal deals’. The food-to-go market is currentlyworth £25 billion and is growing, with supermarketssupplying about 20% of lunch trips.21 This is an arearipe for major transformation, as currently almostall products are sold in one-way packaging. So farthere has been limited attention; M&S is the first UKsupermarket to offer a reusable option in trial storesfor on-the-go food options.22

Inspiration might be taken from Luxembourg forfuture innovation with the EcoBox,23 a reusable on-the-go lunchbox solution for which customers pay a€5 deposit when purchasing food from participatingstores, which is then returned when the box isbrought back to a participating store. This initiativeis supported by the Luxembourg Government. Weencourage a public-private taskforce to be set up toreview the convenience food market in the UK.

Recyclability and recycled content ofpackaging

EIA and Greenpeace asked survey respondents aseries of questions regarding “widely recycled”packaging, defined by On-Pack Recycling Labelling(OPRL) as when 75% or more of councils offerkerbside collections.24 We note shortcomings withthis definition, including that it does not account forwhether an item is ultimately collected or recycled.However, OPRL remains the labelling system withthe broadest industry support.

There has been a decrease in the amount of own-brand plastic packaging classified as ”widelyrecycled” since reported last year, moving from anaverage of 64.7% to 63.8% based on overall tonnage(reported by eight companies, see Figure 5).Companies reporting a decrease includedSainsbury’s (-0.5%), Tesco (-5.6%) and Waitrose (-5%).Tesco reported this was in part due to changes indata collection and inaccuracies contained in data

18

provided in the previous survey. Since thecompanies reporting a decrease include thoseputting the most packaging tonnage on the market,the fall in their overall recyclability has outweighedprogress made by other supermarkets.

Six companies reported on the overall recyclability ofplastic packaging (branded and own-brand), whichaveraged 62.74% based on overall tonnage. Not enoughcompanies provided this dataset in 2018 to allow foran accurate year-on-year comparison to be made.

Reporting on recyclability by tonnage skews the realrecycling story since heavier items (such as plasticbottles) are more widely recycled than the morenumerous but lighter items such as plastic films,which have very low recyclability levels. Figure 6highlights the difference that tonnage vs unit/productline reporting makes. As with last year, fewcompanies were able to provide this level of detail.The average proportion of “widely recycled” itemsbased on unit data from three companies was 33.51%,which is likely higher than the sector-wide figuresince Co-op has an above average proportion of‘widely recycled’ plastic packaging. This suggests thatpotentially more than two-thirds of own-brand plasticpackaging items placed on the market by the UK’sbiggest supermarkets cannot be widely recycled.

All 10 supermarkets have commitments to phaseout non-recyclable packaging: by 2021 (Waitrose),2022 (Aldi and M&S), 2023 (Sainsbury’s, Iceland, Co-op) and 2025 (Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Tesco). Manycompanies have additional targets to eliminate themost problematic polymers and packaging formattypes within the next two years. All 10 supermarketsreported work under way to remove undetectableblack plastics, up from six companies last year.Morrisons also reported that coloured PET (unlesspre-tinted by recycled content) will be phased outfrom 2022 and Co-op is committed to eliminate darkplastic by the end of 2020. Companies that aresignatories to the voluntary UK Plastic Pact, whichincludes all surveyed supermarkets other thanIceland, have agreed to phase out PVC and oxo-biodegradable packaging by 2020.25

Figure 5Reported own-brand packaging classified as “widely recycled”. Note that Iceland did not provide tonnage-based data in 2019 andAsda did not provide this data in 2018, so these companies are not included

Potentially more than two-thirds of own-brand plasticpackaging items placed on the market by the UK’sbiggest supermarkets cannotbe widely recycled.

2018 2019

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Aldi Co-op Lidl M&S Morrisons Sainsbury’s Tesco Waitrose

19

Asda, Co-op, Iceland, M&S, Morrisons, Tesco andWaitrose reported action on packaging typescontaining a mixture of materials or polymers,which are typically hard to recycle. For example,Morrisons has been phasing out labelling on rigidPET packaging (e.g. on bottles and trays) sinceJanuary 2019. Iceland is looking to simplify laminatestructures to single materials where feasible. Asda,Co-op, M&S, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco arealso exploring alternative options for flexible filmswhich cannot be recycled on the kerbside.

In line with the waste hierarchy, we urge companies to consider design for reduction andreuse foremost, in addition to redesign to meetOPRL’s “widely recycled” classification criteria.Some companies are seeking to increase recyclingthrough initiatives such as ‘bring back to store’recycling facilities for packaging formats such asflexible films which cannot be recycled on thekerbside. However, these generally have limitedreturn rates, and a focus on packaging redesign isour recommended way forward.

As well as ensuring all plastic placed on the marketis recyclable, supermarkets can also drive the shiftto a circular economy by maximising the recycledcontent levels of packaging. Seven companiesprovided information about current levels of

recycled content in own-brand packaging – Co-op(34%), Asda (28%), Sainsbury’s (27%), M&S (20%),Morrisons (16%), Waitrose (15%) and Aldi (12%).Companies have pledged to increase their use ofrecycled content, with commitments outlined inTable 4. Only Iceland has no quantified target butencourages suppliers to use recycled contentthrough their policy framework.

Figure 6“Widely recycled” own-brand plastic packaging measured in units compared to weight

Recycled content % in own-brand packagingand timeline for achieving

Companies

50% by 2021

30% by 2020

30% by 2021

50% by 2025

50% / 40% by 2022 for different formats (PET -50%; HDPE milk bottles - 40%; PP bags - 40%; PEfilm- 50% (non-food application)

30% by 2022

30% by 2025

Co-op

Asda

Waitrose,Tesco

Aldi, Lidl

M&S

Sainsbury’s

Morrisons

Table 4: Supermarket commitments to increase recycledcontent in own-brand packaging

Aldi

Co-op

Morrisons

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Unit/product line widely recyclable Tonnage widely recyclable

Bioplastics and other non-conventionalplastics – a false solution

Non-conventional plastics – namely bio-based,biodegradable and compostable plastics – are oftenmarketed as a more sustainable option, despiteconcrete evidence to the contrary.26 For example,most bio-based plastics are produced fromagricultural feedstock, requiring an estimated600,000 hectares to produce 1.6 million tonnes ofplastics in 2013 – a fraction of the total demand forplastics (

Aldi, Waitrose and Co-op offer compostable bags or packaging, although Co-op only sells these inareas where local authorities collect food waste. A number of supermarkets suggested they were looking into recyclable bio-based plastics. We strongly caution against this approach andrecommend a focus on reduction and reuse.

Single-use items

No material should be sourced, extracted,transported, manufactured, marketed and sold to be used for just a matter of minutes before beingdisposed of. EIA and Greenpeace do not support thesimple substitution of single-use plastic items withthose made of other materials such as paper oraluminium because this could have equally severeconsequences for ecosystems and communitiesaffected by increased demands on forestry andmined resources. In line with the waste hierarchy,attention must focus on reduction and reusesolutions which are technically feasible and already scalable for almost all items.

Distribution and action on single-use itemsOur 2019 survey found that eight supermarkets sold more than 805 million single-use water bottles and the 10 companies collectivelydistributed more than 166 million items of single-use plastic cutlery and over 75 milliondisposable coffee cups. Most supermarkets reported a reduction in the amount of single-use plastic cutlery and coffee cups

distributed since the 2018 survey (see Figure 7 andTable 5), but sales of these products still remainremarkably high.

We welcome the drastic reduction in single-useplastic cutlery made by M&S in the past year. Co-op reported an increase in these items but hascommitted to remove them altogether during thenext 12 months. Tesco and Co-op reported thelargest increases in disposable coffee cups (up 57.1% and 47.9% respectively), with Waitrose making the most significant reduction of 24.4 million fewer sales of coffee cups than reported in the previous year.

Many companies are shifting from single-useplastic into other single-use materials, largely pulp and wood (e.g. Asda, Lidl, M&S, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose with cutlery). Some companiesreported that they are looking to phase out single-use cutlery altogether and we encourage allcompanies to do this. Waitrose and Lidl haveremoved single-use coffee cups altogether. We note that some of these item removals wereintroduced during the period covered by the data and so the number distributed during the past year may not yet be zero. Some companies are offering incentives such as discounts (Asda,M&S, Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s) forcustomers bringing in reusable cups. However, asseen with Tesco’s increase in sales of disposablecoffee cups, discounts alone are not sufficient toguarantee an overall reduction.

21

Number of single-use cupsreported in 2018 survey

Number of single-use cups reportedin 2019 survey (% change)

Company

0 (0%)

7,000,000 (-30%)

392,500 (+47.9%)

132,080

0 (-100%)

5,000,000 (-18.4%)

7,800,000

24,350,000 (+57.1%)

3,000,000

27,610,140 (-53.1%)

0

10,000,000

265,416

N/A

45,400

6,128,650

N/A

15,500,000

N/A

52,000,000

Aldi

Asda

Co-op

Iceland

Lidl

M&S

Morrisons

Tesco

Sainsbury’s

Waitrose

Table 5: Number of single use coffee cups distributed by supermarkets

Figure 7Number of single-use plastic cutlery items sold or distributed

Aldi

√(also working

to remove fromcartons)

√(by end of 2020)

√

√

x

Plastic-freesanitary items;

stirrers;disposableplates and

bowls

Asda

√

x(removed

from cafes)

√

x(discount onreusable cup)

√(offered in cafes)

Disposablepartyware(including

table clothesand cocktail

stirrers);plastic free

and reusablesanitary

items andwipes

Co-op

√(also working

to removefrom cartons)

√(over next 12 months)

√

x

√(trialling)

Plastic-free tea bags;

plastic-freewipes

Iceland

√

√(ending

this year)

√

x

√(trialling)

Removedballoons

Lidl

√(also working

to remove from cartons)

√(by 2020)

√

√

x

Removeddisposable

plates

M&S

√

√

√

x(discount onreusable cup)

√(offered in

cafes,looking intofountains)

Plastic-freetea bags,

coffee pods,wipes

Morrisons

√(also working

to remove from cartons)

√(by 2020)

√

x(discount onreusable cup)

√(installing innew storesand offered

in cafes)

Removingmilk jiggersand saucesachets in

cafes; stirrers;sanitary items

Sainsbury’s

x(removed

from cafesand replaced

for on the go range)

√

√

x(discount onreusable cup)

√(offered in

cafes)

Plastic-freewipes

Tesco

x(removed

from cafes)

x(from

September2019 in cafes)

√

x(discount onreusable cup)

x

Removingmilk jiggers,trialling theremoval ofsachets in

cafes

Waitrose

√

√

√

√

√(available

at cafes andinstalling innew stores)

Plastic-freesanitary

items; andwet wipes

Stra

ws

Table 6: Reported plastic reduction targets

In-s

tore

wat

er r

efill

sO

ther

init

iati

ves

Cott

on

buds

Coff

ee

cups

Cutl

ery

2018 2019

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

-

Aldi Co-op Iceland Lidl M&S Waitrose

Mill

ions

22

Table 6 summarises supermarket commitments toreduce specific single-use plastic items throughbans or other initiatives, such as in-store waterdispensers. Plastic Pact members have agreed tophase out plastic cutlery, cotton buds, stirrers andstraws by 2020.30 We support the demands ofdisability rights groups, such as One in Five, whichare concerned that bans on items such as plasticstraws could be detrimental to some citizens andare therefore calling on manufacturers to producean environmentally friendly flexible non-plasticstraw suitable for hot and cold liquids.

Plastic bagsThe introduction of the 5p carrier bag charge inEngland has been credited with an 83% reduction in the number of single-use plastics bags issued bythe largest retailers.31 However, our survey reveals a huge rise in the sale of plastic ‘bags for life’,demonstrating the inadequacy of the current policywhich is clearly not providing a strong enoughincentive for people to stop using ‘bags for life’ as asingle-use option.

In 2018, eight companies representing 75.3% of theUK market share reported the distribution of 959million plastic ‘bags for life’, equating to 12.7 million

per 1% market share. In 2019, 10 companiesrepresenting 94.4% of the grocery retail marketreported over 1.5 billion bags for life, equivalent toabout 16 million per 1% market share. This is anincrease of about 26% on a market share basis,representing approximately 54 bags for life perhousehold in the UK from the 10 supermarkets. It is clear from this data that many people aresimply swapping ‘single-use’ plastic bags for theseplastic bags for ‘life’.

Some companies reported an enormous jump insales of plastic bags for life. Iceland reported atenfold increase from 3.5 million to 34 million, while Tesco reported an increase from 430 millionto 713 million. Other companies reporting anincrease in sales include Aldi (from 52 to 84.6million) and Co-op (28.2 to 29.2 million).

Over the past year, there hasbeen a 26% increase in salesof 'bags for life', representing54 per household in the UK.

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The impact of this simple substitution is a majorconcern, given the significantly higher plasticcontent of bags for life. Our 2019 survey found thatsupermarkets distributed over 1.5 billion bags for lifeweighing 44,913 tonnes and 786.2 million single-usebags weighing 3,334 tonnes (see Table 7). For thecarbon footprint of a typical ‘bag for life’ to beequivalent to that of a conventional single-usecarrier, it needs to be used at least four times if it isa thin low-density polyethylene (LDPE) bag and atleast 11 times if it is a thicker non-wovenpolypropylene (PP) bag.32

Some supermarkets are taking steps to reduce thenumber of plastic ‘bags for life’. Lidl has removedplastic ‘bags for life’ from 54 stores in Wales, withcustomers having to spend 38p on a heavy-duty bagif they forget to bring their own bag. Morrisons has

increased the price of plastic ‘bags for life’ to 30p in31 stores, also in Wales, leading to a 40% reductionin their sales. Morrisons attribute half of thereduction to a move into paper bag sales, the otherhalf to customers reusing bags.

A 90% reduction in bags for life sales was achievedin the Republic of Ireland by setting a charge sixtimes higher than the price consumers reportedthat they were willing to pay, at 70 cents.33

Recent polling found 58% of customers were willing to pay at least 20p for a supermarket carrier bag, 14% would pay as much as 50p and 6% as much as £1.34 Given this, and theoverwhelming increase in use of bags for life, EIA and Greenpeace recommend a price increase to at least 70p – or ideally to remove themaltogether, enforced by a Government ban.

Total 2018 units (mill) Total 2019 units (mill) Total 2019 tonnage

1,197All companies

9598 companies, no data Asda or Lidl

1,309All companies

Not asked in 2018

Single-use plastic bags

Plastic bags for life

Ultra lightweight plastic bags

Other reusables

786.2All companies

1,514All companies

1,033All companies

81All companies

3,334No data provided by Tesco or Asda

44,913No data provided by Lidl

1,049No data provided by Lidl, Sainsbury’s

193Data only for Sainsbury’s and Co-op

Table 7: Overview of data on plastic bags provided by companies in 2018 and 2019 surveys

Figure 8Plastic bags for life reported per company in 2018 and 2019 surveys

Waitrose

Tesco

Sainsbury’s

Morrisons

M&S

Iceland

Co-op

Aldi

0 100

2222.25

200 300 400 500 600 700 800

2019 2018

713430

259269

87.5140.4

13.414

29.228.2

84.652

343.5

25

Numbers of loose produce bags are beginning to fall and we encourage faster progress towardsoffering reusable alternatives, which are beingintroduced and piloted by Morrisons, Waitrose,Tesco, Asda, Aldi, Sainsbury’s and Lidl. Substitutionof single-use plastic for paper produce bags is not a solution.

Supply chain engagement

Plastics found in supermarket aisles are just onepart of a grocery retailer’s plastic footprint. From thetiny pellets used to manufacture plastic items to thefields of plastic polytunnels used to grow crops,plastic is ubiquitous throughout the supply chain.Our survey sought to gain a better understanding ofhow grocery retailers are looking to reduce andresponsibly manage these behind-the-scenes plastics.

Engaging with brand suppliersOur survey leaves little doubt that branded suppliersare standing in the way of a significant reduction insingle-use packaging and a shift into reusablesolutions. All supermarkets except for Lidl and Co-op reported an increase in their branded single-use

plastic packaging footprint this year, rising from349,022 tonnes reported last year to 366,937 tonnes.

Branded goods typically comprise 40-60% of asupermarket’s sales, although some stores such as Aldi and M&S have less than 10% brandedproducts. Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)companies such as Unilever, Nestlé and Proctor &Gamble operate a huge number of brands and have significant influence over the market. These big brands have been identified in a recentaudit of marine pollution as being behind themajority of plastic items found in clean-ups around the world.35

This year’s survey found some progress towardsformalising systematic and robust engagementprocesses with branded suppliers, although muchmore remains to be done to drive down brandedsingle-use packaging. Many companies have morerigorous processes for own-brand suppliers. Forexample, Aldi reported that it has run packagingoptimisation reviews on each food group, providingbuying teams with recommendations on removingand replacing plastic and packaging, using the

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Clearance to Supply (CTS) control system to ensurethat compliance against pledges on plasticreduction are mandatory. Products do not get CTS ifthey are non-compliant with mandatory policies.

Companies including Asda, Aldi, Morrisons, Co-op,Lidl, Tesco and Sainsbury’s reported that theycommunicate their policies on plastic and packagingthrough conferences, provision of technical support,trainings and information-sharing sessions andwritten guidelines and policies. Iceland andWaitrose remain at the earlier stages of the processof formalising engagements with branded suppliers,although both are beginning to communicate theirpolicies and commitments. Branded goods make upjust 3% of M&S sales, so this is not a priority area forthe company, although it has made somecommunications to branded suppliers.

Supermarkets must be prepared to act if brands areunable or unwilling to work towards reduction andreuse objectives. We applaud Tesco for showingleadership by committing to consider the size andsuitability of all packaging and assess whether it isexcessive or inappropriate, reserving the right not to

stock a product.36 This will help the companyachieve its target to reduce plastic packaging by 20% and phase out non-recyclable materials. It isimportant Tesco follows through on this strongcommitment, so that brands realise there will beserious consequences for inaction. Other companiessuch as Asda also reserve the right to delistproducts if they fail to meet minimum standards,although these policies have not been so publiclycommunicated. Supermarkets with less than 10%market share generally felt they had less influenceon branded suppliers than larger grocers.

Working with agricultural suppliersUse of plastics in agricultural production (known as agriplastics) has intensified throughout Europe in recent years, with growth in plastic mulch and greenhouse film, silage covers and bags,irrigation systems, tunnels and covers. Thisincrease has not been matched with improvementsin cleaning, sorting, collection and recyclingfacilities.37 Where these plastics are not recovered,they are often buried in the soil, abandoned in fields or watercourses (which can act as a passage to the oceans) and even illegally burnt.

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Soil ecosystems can absorb large quantities ofmicroplastics, stunting the growth of earthwormswith potentially serious impacts on the soilecosystem.38

Last year, very few companies reported actions toaddress this area of plastic pollution. This year, only Aldi said it was not working on agriplastics.Nonetheless, policies and commitments still remain limited in scope, with just a patchwork ofsmall scale actions under way. For example, Asdahas found a method allowing herbs to be grown in a ‘pellet’, removing the need for plastic plant pots.Lidl suppliers in south-west England collect andrecycle plastic waste into long-lived items such assheep pens and hen houses. Similarly, M&S isencouraging agriplastic recycling into plasticlumber for items such as fence posts. Other actionsinclude M&S working with the SustainableAgriculture Initiative on a collaborative project inSpain. Sainsbury’s highlighted an initiative toeliminate agriplastic waste and consumer-facingpackaging in parallel, removing bags from cabbagesand cauliflowers that were formerly packageddirectly on the field.

Morrisons was one of the few companies seeking tointroduce a clear policy to guide suppliers onreduction, sustainable disposal and/or reuse ofagriplastics. Waitrose also said it would use datagathered through a project with LancasterUniversity to formalise a policy for single-useplastics in food production, focused on plastictunnels, fleeces and netting used for mulch films.Co-op is working with its grower groups toencourage responsible agriplastic use and isincorporating this into its plastic pollution strategyto be shared with suppliers.

Solutions to this problem are not simple. Shifting toreusable and longer-lasting structures may not bean overnight answer, although we stronglyencourage long-term investment in these solutions.Addressing the problem requires a deeperunderstanding of the causes behind the recentgrowth in agriplastics; for example, a year-rounddemand for salad items which cannot be grownwithout plastic structures. A focus on local andseasonal sourcing is a necessary part of a holisticsolution and could also help reduce the amount ofprimary packaging required.

There is discussion around the use of biodegradableplastic mulching which can be tilled back into thesoil. This may be preferable to conventional non-biodegradable alternatives but only if the veryhighest standards are met, with independentecotoxicology and biodegradability testing to ensure they fully and safely breakdown in naturalenvironments. A few companies indicated that bio-digesters and chemical recycling would play a role in their approach to agriplastics. We notesuch solutions are not as resource-efficient as reuse or prevention.

Working with fisheries suppliers At least 640,000 tonnes of abandoned, lost orotherwise discarded fishing gear (also known as ghost gear) enters our oceans each year, accounting for 10% of the total volume of marinedebris globally,39 with recent studies pointing toamounts higher than 46% in some areas.40 Ghostgear is predominantly comprised of plastic41

and is an insidious threat as it catches and killsfish, as well as other non-target species,contributing in some areas to a 5-30% decline incertain fish stocks.42

Supermarkets including Tesco, Waitrose,Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and M&S participate in thevoluntary multi-stakeholder platform Global GhostGear Initiative (GGGI),43 with Co-op and Lidl joiningthe list of signatories since our 2018 survey and Aldicurrently considering membership. Asda hascommitted that all vessels supplying white fish willcollect plastic as they fish by 2020, but did not haveany specific initiatives to prevent ghost gear.Several companies stated they were shifting toreusable containers for the delivery of fish to reducethe quantities of polystyrene in their supply chains.

Examples of best practice include: a commitmentfrom Lidl to work with GGGI on an online trainingtool to share with suppliers on best practices for

28

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mitigating gear loss, M&S’s engagement withsuppliers on rolling out preventative measures for gear loss and management, and Tesco’sengagement with the Marine Stewardship Councilto ensure ghost gear is considered in the standardreview. Morrisons, Tesco and Waitrose all referencespecific projects they are supporting in their supply chains to address ghost gear, including netrecycling, net collection and gear marking.

We recommend all supermarkets to include ghostgear prevention measures in fisheries sourcingpolicies; for example, through requirements on theimplementation of the GGGI Best Practice Framework,following the lead from Morrisons, M&S, Tesco,Sainsbury’s and Waitrose which are already taking this step.

Pre-production plastic pellets Small plastic pellets, also known as nurdles, aremelted down and used in the manufacture of all

plastic products. They can enter the environment atevery stage of the plastic production, manufacturingand recycling process and are the second largestsource of marine microplastic pollution by weight.44

Since last year, there has been some progress by theUK’s largest supermarkets to ensure that bestpractices in preventing pellet loss have been metalong the supply chain.

Co-op asks all own-brand suppliers to sourceplastics from factories which have signed up toOperation Clean Sweep (OCS), an industry-ledvoluntary scheme which provides best practices toprevent pellet loss. Co-op was also involved insuccessfully lobbying BRC Global Standards toinclude a new audit requirement in the GlobalPackaging Standard for packaging factories tointroduce systems to minimise the loss of pellet,powder and flakes.45 Tesco is another leader, with acomprehensive site audit programme for all own-brand suppliers, with any issues around poor controlof pellets recorded as non-compliance in the audit.

Other progress made over the past year includesAldi updating its quality standards policy to requiresuppliers to implement best practices in pellet lossprevention, with the company looking to providedetailed requirements and guidance as part of itsproduction site standards. Morrison’s procurementteam is engaging to understand current levels ofparticipation in OCS. Sainsbury’s has become asignatory to OCS and asks suppliers to pressure theirown packaging suppliers to ensure they are alsosignatories. Lidl has begun engaging with suppliersregarding the level of pre-production pellet loss butdid not report concrete actions or commitments atthis stage. M&S is supportive of OCS, although thebest practice framework is not currently built intoits formal supplier policies. Similarly, Waitroserecommends suppliers use OCS guidelines, but thisdoes not appear to be supported through formalmechanisms. Disappointingly, Asda and Icelandreported this is an area they have not acted on.

Packaging in supply chainsBesides the packaging that consumers find on theshelf, grocery retailers use secondary packaging toprotect and collate products during storage, transportand distribution; and tertiary packaging to transitgoods, including pallets, stretch wrap and strapping.

Compared to last year, more companies were able toprovide data on the amount of secondary andtertiary packaging they use. Companies were alsoasked what proportion of this packaging wasreusable and for any information on policies or

29

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commitments to enforce this. Few companies haddata on the exact proportion, but all reported thatreusable packaging is widely used within secondaryand tertiary packaging.

Aldi reported all its tertiary pallets are reusable andthat more than 60% of secondary packaging forfresh produce and bakery is reusable. Co-op said68% of fruit and vegetables and 50% of meat aredelivered in returnable trays. Iceland reportedbakery items and milk are delivered in reusablepackaging, while in produce it uses returnablecrates for approximately 30% of the volume. Lidlreported 91% of tertiary packaging and 8% ofsecondary packaging was reused. M&S estimated76% of food is distributed to stores in reusablecontainers. Tesco estimated 70% of secondary andtertiary packaging is reusable (mostly green traysand pallets).

Customer, staff and policy engagement

From the millions of customers passing throughsupermarket doors every day, to the staff whoengage with them and handle products in-store,through to policy-makers working on packaginglegislation; grocery retailers interact withstakeholders whose behaviour and actionscollectively shape the UK’s relationship with plastic.The survey sought to understand how companiesare using their influence to catalyse a transitionfrom our throwaway culture.

Engagement with staff, customers andcommunities All companies reported a wide range ofengagements to encourage a shift away fromsingle-use and encourage an uptake in recycling,including through internal communications (i.e.online resources, internal bulletins and newsletters,promotion of reuse and recycling in staff facilities),staff education and training programmes, customercommunications and engagement (includingthrough product labelling, magazines, promotion ofplastic-free options and incentives) as well as widerawareness-raising (including through educationprogrammes and clean-up initiatives). The highestperforming companies reported the mostcomprehensive and targeted programmes with afull range of stakeholder groups, with a specificfocus on incentivising reduction and reuse.

Notable initiatives include efforts by Asda to ensurewide-reaching staff engagement, including at thehighest levels – with metrics tracking progressagainst plastic commitments included in executive

board meetings. Examples of communityengagement initiatives with a wide reach includeAldi’s ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ school educationprogramme, which seeks to interact with 1.5 millionchildren across the UK.

Engagements to encourage staff and citizens toreduce their plastic footprints must be backed upwith widely available and accessible means forpeople to do so in practice. For example, this might include offering reusable produce bags forpurchase with loose fruit and vegetables. Severalcompanies have signed up to the Refill app, whichlets people know that they can refill their waterbottles in-store. Where reusable and zero-wastesolutions are available, we encourage companies toensure they are widely communicated to customers,with other incentives – including financial – toencourage uptake.

Engagement with policy-makersIn 2019, a number of Government policyconsultations were launched under the Resourceand Waste Strategy, including proposals to reform legislation defining Extended ProducerResponsibility for packaging (EPR), to implement aDeposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers,and to introduce a tax for plastic packagingcontaining less than 30% recycled content. As partof the survey, we were keen to understand theposition of retailers engaging with these processes.

Currently in the UK, it is estimated that less than10% of the costs associated with dealing withpackaging waste are covered by the EPR feesproducers pay. The rest is externalised, with localauthorities and the natural environment bearing thebrunt, as well as communities around the world towhich the waste is shipped. Companies weregenerally supportive of EPR covering the full costsassociated with dealing with packaging waste andfavoured a transparent system, wherein fees wereused to significantly improve recycling facilities in

Engagements to encouragestaff and citizens to reducetheir plastic footprints mustbe backed up with widelyavailable and accessiblemeans for people to do so in practice.

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the UK. Few, however, identified the transformativepotential of EPR to incentivise reduction and reuse,in addition to recyclability,

DRS schemes are an effective way to ensure highlevels of containers are collected for recycling – orideally, reuse – by including a small fee at the pointof sale, which customers redeem once they returnthe item. While most supermarkets supported theintroduction of a DRS system, with the exception ofLidl and Tesco, all had concerns about the inclusionof glass. It is important to include glass for anumber of reasons. Despite being one of the mostrecyclable materials, an unacceptable amount ofglass bottles end up in landfill or are littered – forexample, in Scotland, more than 40% of glass drinkscontainers escape recycling.46

The Government has proposed a tax to be applied toplastic packaging containing less than 30% recycledcontent. Some companies seemed supportive of itsintroduction, including Iceland, Aldi andSainsbury’s. Others had concerns that, as currentlyformulated, the tax could have unintendedconsequences, with many noting that by focusingon plastics and not all packaging materials, there isa risk that producers could simply substitute onesingle-use material for another, with negativeenvironmental impacts. We share this concern andcall for the tax to be applied to all single-usepackaging materials.

Transparency and disclosure Transparency is critical to ensure accountabilityaround targets and commitments, as well as toprovide a more comprehensive understanding ofthe plastic and single-use packaging being placedon the market each year. Ocado, Booker Group andBest Way were the only survey recipients not tosubmit a response. All of the major supermarketswe contacted responded to the survey and engagedin follow-up discussions and clarifications.

All major retailers have committed to report ontheir plastic footprints annually, with many havingalready done so – including Asda, Co-op, Iceland,Lidl, Morrisons, Tesco and Waitrose. There weresome areas where companies were not able toprovide data due to challenges in data collection.Companies struggled to provide information on theproportion of branded packaging that is ‘widelyrecycled’ using OPRL’s definition (Asda, Co-op,Iceland) and the average level of recycled contentthat packaging contains (Iceland, Lidl, Tesco). Asdaand Co-op were not able to provide unit plasticpackaging data for branded products. Furthermore,Asda and Sainsbury’s did not provide unit sales dataon single-use water bottles.

Reduction and reuse

Supermarkets were scored on progress made in thepast year to reduce their single-use footprints andmove towards packaging-free and reusablesolutions, in addition to their forward-looking targetsand commitments in these areas. Seven of the 10 companies increased their overall single-useplastic packaging footprints (branded and own-brand).As a result, the amount of single-use plasticpackaging placed on the market by the UK’s leadingsupermarkets has increased by almost 20,000tonnes since the 2018 survey, primarily driven bysales of branded goods. All 10 companies haveplastic reduction targets but these need tighteningto ensure a genuine shift away from single-usepackaging across both branded and own-brandranges. There remains too much focus on falsesolutions like light-weighting and substitutingsingle-use plastic for other materials.

A patchwork of packaging-free and reuse initiativesare under way, which now need to be applied atscale in order to achieve deep reductions in single-

use packaging. We encourage companies to followthe lead of Morrisons in setting quantified reusetargets to drive further improvements. There isincreasing attention on expanding loose fruit andvegetable ranges. It is important that single-useplastic produce bags are replaced with reusable,rather than paper, alternatives; and for all looseranges to be offered on price parity (or ideallycheaper) than packaged equivalents.

The number of single-use items such as coffee cups,water bottles and cutlery remains unacceptablyhigh. We urge companies to end the sale of theseitems in favour of reusable alternatives. The soaringnumber of so-called bags for ‘life’ also warrantsurgent attention and we call on supermarkets andpolicy-makers to end sales of these altogether or ata minimum increase the price to 70p.

Recyclability and recycled content

All supermarkets have committed to phase out non-recyclable plastic packaging by 2025 at the latest.However, despite being a major focus for industry,

Supermarkets have a major role to play in driving the transition towardszero-waste grocery supply chains. However, the findings of our reporthighlight the scale of the challenge ahead and the need for continued andconcerted action by industry and Government. Modern dependence onsingle-use packaging and items is a symptom of a broken system and toreverse this trend we must address the underlying drivers. We recommenda holistic suite of solutions to avoid unintended consequences, movingforward towards a more sustainable grocery sector.

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Conclusions

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the overall levels of own-brand plastic packagingclassed as ‘widely recycled’ have actually decreasedsince last year, from 64.7% to 63.8% when calculatedby tonnage. Tonnage calculations skew the truenumber of non-recyclable items, since much non-recyclable packaging such as plastic films arelightweight but represent a larger number of items.When calculated on a unit basis, it is likely that lessthan a third of own-brand plastic packaging itemsare ‘widely recycled’.

Companies are working to increase the level ofrecycled content that own-brand plastic packagingcontains, with some companies already reportinglevels of about 30% average (Co-op, Asda andSainsbury’s), and targets have been set to increaseaverage recycled content levels to 50% (Aldi, Lidl,M&S, Co-op).

Supply chain and stakeholder ngagements

Our survey has identified branded product rangesas a hurdle to ending grocery retail dependence onsingle-use packaging. EIA and Greenpeace urgesupermarkets to collectively leverage their buyingpower to push for a significant reduction and shiftinto reusables systems among these companies. If a brand is unwilling or unable to reach theseobjectives, supermarkets should not stock theirproducts.

Beyond the items that customers find on the shelf,supermarkets must address supply chain plasticsthrough enforcing policies with regard to thereduction of plastic pollution associated withfisheries, agriculture and pre-production plastic

pellets. While most companies have someinitiatives in these areas, best practices now need tobe systematically applied at scale.

Engaging staff, customers and communities will bea key driver for reducing and reusing packaging. Weencourage supermarkets to continue scaling upthese communications, ensuring the availabilityand accessibility of packaging-free and reusablesolutions. Supermarkets can use their leverage withpolicy-makers to support legislative reform thatcatalyses reduction and reuse, calling for bindingtargets and policy support on these areas.

Transparency

We were disappointed that Ocado, Booker Groupand Best-One chose not to participate in the survey.These companies are selling millions of groceryitems every day and we have not been able toassess their progress or commitments. SPARprovided a partial response.

The 10 leading supermarkets generally scored wellon transparency, although there remain some areaswhere data is poor. A number of firms struggled toprovide information about their sales of brandedgoods (including the number of units sold,recyclability of this packaging and levels of recycledcontent). Companies are encouraged to publiclyreport on their plastic footprints in both tonnageand units.

Single-use packaging

l Reduction targets. Set ambitious reduction targets and map out long-term plans for cutting single-use plastic, with shorter term milestones built in. Targets must apply to both branded and own-brand goods and should achieve an absolute reduction (without being tied to sales or growth). Methods for achieving these targets should focus on removing single-use packaging altogether andshifting into reusable packaging, rather than light-weighting or swapping one single-use material for another.

l Packaging-free ranges and reuse solutions. Support a wholescale transition towards packaging-free ranges and reuse and refill systems across shop floors, supply chains and product lines nationwide; ensuring price parity, availability, accessibility and awareness. Introduce online reusable ranges. Given the potentially heavier weight of reusable packaging, supermarkets should take steps to ensure no knock-on impacts on transport emissions by supporting a rapid decarbonisation of the transport fleet.

l Eliminate non-recyclable packaging. Urgently eliminate all non-recyclable plastic polymers and packaging formats by the end of 2020 and make itmandatory for branded suppliers to do the same.

l Non-conventional plastics. Avoid false solutions involving non-conventional plastics (bio-based, biodegradable, compostable).

l Address the drivers of single-use packaging. Promote shorter supply chains and seasonal produce; ban excessive packaging used for marketing objectives; challenge the ‘convenience’ culture underpinning the wasteful on-the-go market.

Single-use plastic items

l End sales and free provision of single-use items. This includes, but is not limited to, plastic cutlery,bottles, cups, straws, stirrers, sanitary items and plastic-stemmed cotton buds. Focus on removing single-use items altogether and shifting to reusables.

l End sale of single-use plastic bags and plastic ‘bags for life’ or increase the minimum price to at least 70p, and offer reusable produce bags.

Working with the supply chain

l Robust engagement with branded suppliers. Engage with brand suppliers on reducing single-use plastics and packaging by requesting target-setting, sharing best practices and collaborating on refillable packaging ranges. De-list companies unwilling or unable to adapt.

l Agriplastics. Work with fruit and vegetable suppliers on the reduction and responsible management of plastics used on the farm to prevent pollution of soil, rivers and oceans. Formalise this into a policy enforced across all suppliers.

l Fisheries-related plastic waste. Work with fisherysuppliers to implement measures to prevent abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear and other plastic waste. Adopt sourcing policies that incorporate best practices such as those advocated by the Global Ghost Gear Initiative.

l Secondary and tertiary packaging. Introduce a comprehensive policy requiring reusable containers for transportation, storage and distribution.

l Plastic pellet loss. Introduce requirements for suppliers to implement best practice measures to prevent plastic pellet loss, with third party auditing and reporting requirements.

RecommendationsActions and choices made by supermarkets today are defining the future health of ecosystems and thosedepending on them. We encourage companies to reconsider their relationship with single-use packaging anditems, analysing and addressing the trends which have driven their recent proliferation. A summary of keyrecommendations is provided below. We encourage companies to collaborate and share learnings to enablefaster progress across the sector.

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Engagement with staff, customers andpolicy makers

l Staff, customer and community engagement campaigns. Utilise all internal and external communication channels to empower staff and customers to reduce plastic, addressing financial and non-financial barriers to behavioural change.

l Engage with policy makers to support the reduction of plastic and single-use packaging. Engage individually and through industry bodies to promote ambitious policy reform to significantlyreduce single-use packaging and shift towards reuse and refill systems.

Transparency

l Publicly disclose full plastic footprint breakdownon website and within annual report.

Investors and shareholders in these companies areencouraged to promote these recommendationsthrough their engagements.

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Recommendations forpolicy-makersWe urge policy-makers to adopt and implementambitious legislation to ensure a rapidreduction in plastic waste, including:

l Introducing legally binding reduction and reuse targets for packaging, reducing single-use plastic packaging by at least 50% by 2025.

l Using Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)packaging reform to ensure that producers cover the full costs associated with the items they place on the market, with fees set to incentivise design for reduction and reuse, as well as recyclability.

l Introducing an all-inclusive Deposit Return Scheme covering all materials and formats (including glass), designed to enable reuse as well as recycling.

l Banning single-use plastic bags and plastic ‘bags for life’ (or increase the minimum price to at least 70p) as well as other unnecessary single-use items such as cutlery and coffee cups.

l Introducing taxes and charges to disincentivise the use of any virgin materials in packaging applications.

l Phasing out overseas exports of packaging waste and banning waste incineration as falsesolutions to addressing the UK’s lack of domestic recycling capacity.

l Introducing EPR schemes for agriplastics and fishing gear.

l Extending the UK microbead ban to cover intentionally added microplastics in all household and industrial applications.

Glossary

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Absolute change (increase or decrease): An absolute change refers to the simple differencebetween two given values. For example, if acompany increased its plastic footprint from 100,000tonnes in 2017 to 150,000 tonnes in 2018, theabsolute change would be 50,000 tonnes.

Agriplastics: Agriplastics (sometimes known as ‘plasticulture’ or‘ag plastics’) are plastic products and packagingused in agricultural production and sales.Agriplastics include mulch and greenhouse film,silage covers and bags, irrigation systems, tunnelsand covers.

Baseline year: A baseline year is a reference point in time againstwhich targets are set. For example, a company maycommit to reduce plastic by 20%, using it’s 2015plastic footprint as a baseline by which thereduction is measured.

Bioplastics: The term ‘bioplastics’ is commonly used to refer to‘bio-based’, ‘biodegradable’ or ‘compostable’ plastics(see definitions below). A bioplastic could be bothbio-based and biodegradable.47

Bio-based plastics: ‘Bio-based’ means that the material at least in part derived from renewable resources. Most bio-based plastics are produced from agro-basedfeedstock, raising concern that increasing land-usefor bio-based p