Sainsbury’s packaging head promises: can has future

Sainsbury’s revealed yesterday that it was planning to move all its canned Basics chopped tomatoes into cartons made by SIG Combibloc, as part of its project to cut the weight of its packaging by a third by 2015.

The supermarket said that the move would save 500 tonnes of packaging and 156 tonnes of carbon emissions every year.

The Metal Packaging Manufacturers Association (MPMA) criticised the move, saying that it could increase waste going to landfill and “seemingly failed to consider adequately” the high recycling rate of steel packaging, which stood at 70% across Europe in 2008 according to recent figures from Apeal.

But Stuart Lendrum, Sainsbury’s head of packaging, today told Packaging News that the move was right for the particular product and for the supermarket’s customers, but refuted suggestions that weight was the only driving force in the decision.

“This decision is not based purely on weight,” Lendrum said. “The space efficiency of this format is fantastic and has a big impact throughout the supply chain, whether it’s in our lorries or in our customers’ kitchen cupboards.”

He added that there was now over 80% coverage through bring banks and kerside collections for carton recycling and that the move to kerbside collection for the format was likely to accelerate in the near future.

“This certainly does not mean the end of the can. We now have a handful of SKUs in liquid cartons. There may be more but it will find its balance,” said Lencrum.

In its reponse to the Sainsbury’s move, the MPMA also warned against making public claims that one packaging material is more environmentally friendly than another.

“Errors made now in accommodating partially understood drivers could produce catastrophic effects impacting present and future generations,” it said.

Lendrum said: “When we make a change like this it is a step on the journey – it is not the destination.”

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