Lidl slammed as ‘worst supermarket for non-recyclable packaging’ by Which?
A third of packaging in supermarkets is non-recyclable or hard to recycle according to the consumer group
LIDL has been accused of being the worst supermarket for having the lowest proportion of widely recyclable packaging by Which?.
The consumer group claims that up to a third of items in supermarkets are in packaging that is non-recyclable or difficult to recycle - and could be adding to the UK's war on waste.
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The supermarket looked at a 27 everyday own-brand items at 10 supermarkets and found that Lidl, followed by Iceland, Ocado and then Sainsbury's were at the bottom of the pile when it comes to recyclable wrapping.
While Morrisons was tipped as the best supermarket with greener alternatives.
For example, Morrisons packaged its chocolate cake in a widely recyclable plastic box, while Lidl’s cake came in mixed packaging comprising a non-recyclable film within a widely recyclable box with a non-recyclable window.
Some groceries had non-recyclable packaging no matter which supermarket they came from. All the packaged easy-peel oranges, for example, came in nets with plastic labels.
What's the problem with plastic?
WHILE all plastics are technically recyclable some plastics - even white ones - are much harder to recycle.
This means they cannot be deposited at kerbside or supermarket recycling banks.
Black plastic trays are also technically recyclable but pure carbon-black plasic is not picked up by infared sorting machines at banks and rejected.
Mised coloured packaging or off-black colours are ok.
Easy peeler nets - found on lots of supermarket fruit - are not only non-recyclable but can cause recycling machines to break down if they get caught up in machinery.
Which? researchers also found big inconsistencies, with different systems of labelling used and some items not labelled at all.
It is calling on the government and manufacturers to simplify current recycling labels to make it clear to shoppers what can and can't be recycled.
Along with simpler labelling, Which? is calling on manufacturers to stop using non-recyclable packaging where recyclable options exist.
Nikki Stopford, from Which?, said: “The plastic pollution crisis makes it more crucial than ever that the Government, manufacturers and supermarkets do the best they can to banish plastic that cannot be recycled and promote the use of less damaging packaging.”
The government has promised to achieve zero avoidable waste by 2050.
A Defra spokesman said: "Recycling rates are rising, with less waste being sent to landfill, but more still needs to be done to further reduce avoidable waste and recycle more which will form part of our Resources and Waste Strategy out later this year."
A spokesperson from Lidl said: "We fully support the need to tackle the important issue of plastic waste, which is why we recently launched our ambitious plastic reduction targets and have a cross-departmental team in place, who are dedicated to delivering these commitments.
"We are in the process of conducting a comprehensive review of our entire packaging footprint, and estimate that the vast majority of our packaging is widely recyclable under the industry standard OPRL (On Pack Recycling Labelling) scheme.
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"We therefore do not believe that the small sample used in the report is representative or reflective of our full product range."
A spokesperson from Iceland said: “We are in the very early stages of a project to remove single-use plastic packaging from our own label food completely by 2023, and will make substantial progress during 2018 that will include the elimination of all non-recyclable black plastic trays from our frozen meal range.
"We are working to ensure that all the replacement packaging we use is readily recyclable, reusable or compostable, and are lobbying hard for improvements in the UK waste collection and recycling infrastructure to ensure that this can be achieved.”
What are supermarkets doing about plastic and waste
- Morrisons customers who bring their own containers for meat will get loyaly points
- Morrisons is also trialling testing a plastic bottle return vending machines in some stores
- Asda has promised to replace polystyrene boards in fresh pizza boxes with cardboard
- M&S is replacing plastic cutlery with wood
- Waitrose has promised to stop using black plastic trays for fruit, vegetables, meat and fish
- Aldi, Asda, Lidl, M&S, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose have pledged that 100 per cent of plastic packaging will be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025
- Iceland has not signed up but has promised to remove plastic packaging from own-label range by 2023 and replace all black plastic ready-meal trays with paper-based or aluminium ones by the end of this year
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