Nine of the UK’s largest grocery retailers have today issued a joint ‘Statement of Intent’ to explore how reusable packaging could be implemented across their stores and online.
The plan, which is supported by UK governments and WRAP, is to offer a system that makes it easy to shop for prefilled items and marks a commitment towards a standardised in-store and online system to reduce the amount of single-use packaging put on the market.
The announcement follows data from GoUnpackaged showing that moving to just 30% reuse could deliver major 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 CO2e emissions for the products in scope.
The UK Plastics Pact statement says: “We, the grocery retailers of the UK (Aldi, Asda, Co-op, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado Retail, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose) 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.”
James Bull, Chair of the retailer group, commented: “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.”
With learnings from previous localised pilots, the group will consider a more co-ordinated approach and solution where reusable packaging (prefill) is possible and easy to use wherever people shop. Driven by a shared understanding that change at scale only happens when everyone moves together, WRAP will act as secretariat for the group in aligning goals, infrastructure and consumer needs.
Keith James, WRAP’s Interim Director for Behaviour Change & Business Programmes, said: “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.”
The next stage will be a September webinar for brands, manufacturers and suppliers to engage with the Reuse Packaging Partnership.
NAM Implications:
- Hopefully, this coordinated initiative will reduce the cost impact of new packaging taxes.
- And thus dilute potential increases in shelf prices…
