One million tonnes of recyclable plastic packaging goes to landfill or incineration every year. According to the Co-op Group, this is because consumers don’t understand what they can and can’t recycle and because some local authorities are unable to process it.
The Group plans to change this. “Our long-term ambition is for ALL packaging to be recycled where it can be,” said Steve Murrells, Group chief executive, in the introduction to The Tipping Point, a report into waste and recycling. “We are making a bold start by setting a target that, by 2020, 80% of our products will have packaging that is easy to recycle.”
The retailer’s targets are based on product lines and not weight, as this is how the Group says its customers “look at packaging”. In 2016, 46% of the Co-op Group’s own-brand products were in easy to recycle packaging.
The organisation wants to work across the industry to find new ways to package products as the “current norms are not working”, such as using black plastic because it looks good but is not recyclable. It also wants to inform and guide shoppers about the positives and challenges behind recycling. It has already replaced polystyrene pizza discs with recyclable cardboard, simplified its plastic trays used for meat, poultry and fish, and was the first retailer to change the colour of milk bottle tops for recycling purposes. The Co-op Group was also the first retailer to support the Plastics Industry Recycling Action Plan (PIRAP), an industry-led strategy to encourage the whole supply chain to take action to contribute to increasing plastic packaging recycling.
At its AGM, the organisation asked members to vote for “continued support to improve the recyclability of packaging, encourage other organisations to do more and help shoppers understand the positives behind recycling”.
During the debate, Stuart Parker, Lincolnshire Co-op president, brought a swede to the meeting that was covered in plastic wrap. Holding it up, he said: “When looking at recycling, surely we should also be looking at reducing packaging as a way to reduce environmental impact.”
Ahead of the motion, which called on the board and executive to support its long-term approach to improving the recyclability of packaging, chief executive Steve Murrells said: “We want to work across the industry to find new ways of packaging our products because at the moment it’s not good enough. By 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in our seas.”
The motion was passed by 99.05%. The full text read:
This AGM recognises that while 85% of Co-op Members say that packaging recyclability is important to them currently two-thirds of packaging in the UK on consumer goods goes unrecycled. Therefore, this AGM:
- supports our Co-op’s aim to make 100% of our packaging easy to recycle, with an interim target of 80% easy to recycle by 2020;
- encourages our Co-op to work with people across the industry to seek better ways to package food and maximise the amount of packaging handled by recycling facilities in the UK; and
- agrees our Co-op should inform and guide shoppers about the positives and challenges behind recycling.
Recycling was discussed further at a fringe event which explored the wider recyclability issue, the recycling journey and the issue of recyclability vs convenience. “We want you to help find ways to encourage more members and communities to recycle waste,” says the Group. “By telling us what matters to you most and giving us feedback on our plans you can help shape the role that theCo-op plays in tackling the problem of recycling in the UK.”
The panel described how much of the Group’s work is focused on plastics, due to concerns about marine plastic and the warning that by 2050 there will be more items of plastic in the world’s oceans than there will be fish.
