Supermarkets fail to deliver packaging message, study says

Despite major initiatives to improve their packaging’s environmental performance, most notably the Courtauld Commitment, and their overall green impact, the public is still either unaware or sceptical of supermarkets’ efforts.

The survey of 1,000 consumers, carried out by London research agency Incite, found that just 22% of shoppers thought that Tesco and Sainsbury’s were actively reducing the amount of packaging on its products.

Asda’s packaging reduction efforts had the highest awareness among consumers, at 33%, while the Co-op scored 26%. Aldi (20%) and Morrisons (19%) were the least recognised for their packaging reduction efforts.

A similar ranking emerged in customers views on which supermarkets were working to make sure packaging is recyclable and that customers know what can be recycled, with the Co-op (42%) and Asda (39%) coming out on top, followed by Sainsbury’s (33%), Tesco (30%), Morrisons (25%) and Aldi (19%).

Incite managing director Roger Banks said that the study revealed frustration among consumers who want to do more to recycle.

“Retailers and manufacturers who take a lead on this will clearly impress customers who can tell the difference between lip service and action.

“It is clear that consumers want to do more to help, but recycling needs to be made even more accessible for them, and the lead on this needs to come from industry.”

Incite’s study also found that confusion over what could be recycled was still widespread, with many finding recycling logos hard to understand.

Just 42% said that the triangular PET recycling logo was easy to understand, while the same number understood the Green Dot logo.

The study did, however, give a fillip to the recently launched BRC recycling logo. Although only 53% of consumers were aware of it, some 80% said that it was easy to understand.

Richard Dodd from the British Retail Consortium, said: “Customer confusion is the biggest barrier to improving recycling rates. The new on-pack recycling label, developed with retailers and the BRC, is now rapidly being adopted and intended specifically to overcome that confusion.”

“Replacing a potentially confusing array of symbols and messages with a single, standardised logo will help customers recycle more of what can be recycled.

Editor’s comment: The fact is that supermarkets and the packaging industry more widely are doing a lot to drive improvements in environmental performance.

Yet, as Packaging News has been arguing for some time, far more needs to be done to drive the message home to consumers.

Supermarkets are, in our view, the only part of the supply chain with a strong public voice. They are therefore uniquely positioned to deliver a positive message both on what they are doing to improve their packaging, and on packaging generally.

Clearly Asda and the Co-op are having some success on this front – but still not enough. The retailers must pull together to improve these figures.

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