SAINSBURY’S has announced that over 39.5 million items bought from its stores are to be packaged using plastic bottles recovered from the coastal areas.
It comes as part of a partnership with Prevented Ocean Plastic to turn plastic collected from the coast into packaging using Sharpak technology, with 80% of its own-brand strawberries set to be sold in the packs and 34% of its fish range.
The supermarket said that the process results in high-quality, certified recycled plastic packs. It added that over 297 tonnes of plastic is expected to be removed from coastal areas as a result of the partnership ramping up.
Claire Hughes, director of product, packaging and innovation at Sainsbury’s, commented, “Using Prevented Ocean Plastic is one change we’re making to our supply chain to help us remove, reduce, recycle and reuse plastic. Not only will it have a positive environmental impact by preventing plastic from polluting the ocean, but it will also have an important social impact by allowing our customers to make sustainable choices and support overseas coastal communities at risk of ocean plastic pollution.”
Patrick Gautier, UK division director for Sharpak, added, “I’d like to thank Sainsbury’s for identifying and embracing this real and positive action to reduce Ocean Plastic Pollution, support coastal collection communities and to help educate consumers that plastic is a valuable resource that can be recycled & not to be littered into environment.”
Raffi Schieir, director of Bantam Materials the supplier of Prevented Ocean Plastic, said, “Choosing products made from recycled content ensures recycling has already happened and use of new plastic has been reduced. We developed Prevented Ocean Plastic to be part of the solution to ocean plastic pollution and are delighted to be working with Sainsbury’s so they can provide their customers with a better plastic choice.”
