Iceland is continuing to make strides in its commitment to eliminate plastic packaging from its own label products by the end of 2023 with the launch of a dedicated plastic-free Christmas range.
From this week, Iceland customers can choose from 18 Christmas products that are completely free from plastic packaging. The new range allows shoppers to pick up a starter, main course and dessert with minimal plastic packaging. Products such Iceland’s Luxury Beef Wellington, Stuffing Balls and Luxury Black Forest Layered Pavlova have had their packaging redesigned from last year and are now completely plastic free.
Iceland is also offering eight festive products that have had their plastic packaging significantly reduced. One example of the redeveloped packaging is Iceland’s Perfect Turkey Crown, which was previously packaged in a plastic bag and is now offered in a recyclable paper wrap with only a remaining plastic band seal.
In total, Iceland’s new range of plastic-free and reduced plastic products now contains 97% less plastic packaging than in previous years, showcasing just how much progress the supermarket has made since making its plastics pledge at the beginning of last year.
Richard Walker, managing director at Iceland, commented: “Christmas is a crucial time of year which sees retailers go head to head on product innovation, and we were keen to incorporate our sustainability efforts into this. We know that there is a significant appetite for reduced plastic packaging and that plastic consumption increases significantly at Christmas, so we were keen to take on the challenge and demonstrate to the industry and our consumers that it’s possible to have a sustainable Christmas.
“The development of the new range has involved exploring and testing hundreds of alternatives, before developing a series of new-to-market solutions which have either significantly reduced, or entirely removed, plastic from the packaging of our new Christmas range.”
Since it made its pledge, Iceland claims to have removed more than 2,100 tonnes of plastic from its own label packaging and has plans to increase this figure significantly in 2020. As part of these plans, Iceland has announced that it will have removed all black plastic packaging from its own label products by this January.
