UK supermarket chain Waitrose has unveiled plans to switch its own-label packaging to more environmental friendly material by 2025.
According to the retailer, it will adopt recyclable, reusable or home compostable packaging across all food categories.
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Waitrose aims to bring recyclable triangular sandwich wrappers, which, it claims, is a first for the UK supermarkets.
To achieve this, the cardboard sandwich packaging will be separated from the non-recyclable plastic film.
Waitrose packaging manager Karen Graley said: “The change to our sandwich packaging may seem like a small one but it’s likely to make a big impact on the amount of packaging recycled.
“We continue to work on a solution to the pack’s plastic film in the hope that, in the future, none of the sandwich pack will go to landfill.”
The retailer noted that separating the cardboard from the transparent film on the pack is a challenging task.
With a new solution in place, the film can now be easily removed from the cardboard using a peelable tab.
Following the rollout next month, the company expects to see more snack packaging recycled.
In the event that customers throw the whole pack away, processors can recycle it by separating the paper element from the film.
Waitrose is the food retail division of the UK-based John Lewis Partnership, which also owns the John Lewis departmental store chain.
Image: The Waitrose branch in Wallingford. Photo: courtesy of John Phillips via Wikipedia.
