In May 2022, civil society organizations Changing Markets Foundation and Break Free From Plastic published a new report in their Talking Trash project that investigated plastic pollution related actions carried out by 74 of the largest European supermarkets. Considering data transparency, published packaging goals, and support for government reuse or recycling targets, the total average score achieved by the retailers was 13 out of 100. Aldi UK and Aldi Ireland were the only two companies to achieve more than a score of 60. According to the report, “82% [of companies] did not provide the most basic information about their plastic footprint, which casts a shadow of a doubt over their quantitative commitments, where they exist, because they lack a baseline.”
Only 39 retailers responded even partially to a written survey sent by CMF. The missing survey data and the data for all the other retailers were collected by a coalition of local non-profits reviewing publicly available information. The total scores were composed of three parts (i) data disclosure on the amount of plastic used in the supermarket’s own-brand products and share of recycled or reusable packaging sales, (ii) the commitments related to plastic packaging that the companies have made, and (iii) whether or not they support government deposit return schemes or mandatory reuse targets.
As an exercise, the authors “combined the best responses from the questionnaire to create a best-in-class fictional retailer that got a total score of 82.7%.” Most of the issues around plastic packaging that the two organizations investigated are being “addressed well by at least one existing retailer.” This means that retailers can borrow ideas and existing programs from other chains to improve their scores.
The previous Talking Trash report by Changing Markets Foundation was an investigation into the commitments made by some of the world’s largest consumer goods and food companies to address plastic pollution (FPF reported). In December 2021, consulting company Gartner Inc. published a press release predicting that “90% of public sustainable packaging commitments won’t be met by 2025” (FPF reported). And a systematic review of 68 corporate sustainability reports published in November 2021 found most reports do not address plastic pollution, instead focusing on end-of-life options instead of sustainable packaging solutions (FPF reported).
The Food Packaging Forum tracks packaging-related actions undertaken by supermarkets and other food brands and retailers in the Brand and Retailer Initiatives Database.
Read more
Changing Markets Foundation (May 2022). “Under wraps: What Europe’s supermarkets aren’t telling us about plastic.” (pdf)
Changing Markets Foundation (May 2022). “Talking Trash.”
