Tesco and Sainsbury’s face allegations for misleading customers regarding their recycling initiatives.
- An investigative effort revealed failures in achieving recycling objectives, with most plastic waste incinerated.
- Devices tracked the waste’s international journey, highlighting discrepancies in recycling claims.
- Supermarkets assert efforts to enhance packaging recyclability, despite campaigners’ criticisms.
- The core issue remains the excessive creation of non-essential plastic packaging.
In recent reports, Tesco and Sainsbury’s have been accused of misleading consumers about their recycling schemes. An investigation revealed that much of the plastic waste collected was incinerated rather than recycled. This enquiry, undertaken by the Everyday Plastic campaign and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA UK), uncovered these discrepancies through meticulous tracking of soft plastic waste.
The investigation deployed Apple tracking devices within 40 bundles of plastic waste, originating from collection points at Tesco and Sainsbury’s stores across the UK. The tracked plastic travelled over 25,000 kilometres, with significant portions ending up overseas. Historical data shows seven bundles converted to fuel pellets, five incinerated for energy, and four downcycled into lower-value products in Turkey. These findings starkly contrast the expectations consumers had when using these take-back schemes.
The recycling initiatives aim to enhance sustainability by installing collection points for plastics, which are not typically managed via standard kerbside collections. Despite these intentions, the schemes have faced criticism for failing to deliver on their promises. Alison Colclough from Everyday Plastic remarked, “The take-back schemes are being presented as a solution, which is diverting attention from the main issue that cannot be overlooked: far too much unnecessary plastic packaging is being produced.”
In defence, Sainsbury’s stated they are exploring ways to improve the lifecycle management of their packaging. They noted that while a small portion of collected plastic is recycled, compromised materials often become alternative energy sources. A Sainsbury’s representative emphasised their commitment to progress, “Feedback is important to us, and we’d welcome any suggestions on how we can improve our efforts in this area.” Meanwhile, Tesco has categorised the dispatch of plastics to Turkey as a supplier mistake, reaffirming their dedication to a comprehensive plan in reducing, reusing, and recycling packaging materials.
The broader issue of plastic waste remains complex, marked by infrastructure challenges in recycling soft plastics on a larger scale within the UK and EU. Although supermarket giants are reportedly nearing voluntary packaging recyclability targets, campaigners argue that the fundamental issue lies in the excessive production of plastic packaging. The waste disposal strategies currently adopted fail to address the root cause of the environmental challenge.
The situation underscores the urgent need for systematic changes in the production and recycling of plastic packaging.
