Packaging News

Tesco ditches plastic for cardboard laundry detergent packaging

Recyclable cardboard packs to replace plastic laundry pod tubs - saving 252 tonnes of plastic per year

Tesco is set to replace the plastic tubs used to package its own-brand laundry detergent pods with new recyclable cardboard boxes.

The UK's largest supermarket says the switch will save 252 tonnes of plastic per year, removing over four million pieces of plastic across eight lines.

The new boxes contain more than 90% recycled cardboard, are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and can be put in the normal household recycle bin when empty.

A thin plastic liner will be placed inside the boxes to protect the pods.

The switch comes as part of Tesco's 4Rs packaging strategy, launched by the retailer in August 2019 to help tackle the impact of plastic waste by:

• Removing plastic where it can
• Reducing plastic where it can't be removed
• Looking at ways to Reuse more plastic
• Recycling what's left

Since the strategy's launch, Tesco says it has removed 1.8bn pieces of plastic and reduced its packaging footprint by more than 10,000 tonnes.

Tesco Group Quality Director Sarah Bradbury said: "Customers are focused on getting great value right now, but we know that they still want to choose products that use less or no plastic in their packaging.

"This is one of many changes we’re making to reduce unnecessary plastic from products right across our stores."

Image courtesy of Tesco.

Korean researchers develop fully biodegradable and non-soggy paper straws

Breakthrough development produces straws that keep their shape whilst also biodegrading in open and ocean environments

Soggy paper straws could soon be a thing of the past, as Korean researchers have developed a fully biodegradable paper straw that keeps its shape when in use.

Paper straws have increased in popularity since the UK government banned single-use plastic straws in 2021, but their replacements have proved to have limitations.

As paper quickly turns soggy when wet, conventional paper straws are coated with either polyethylene or acrylic resin to maintain their structure and integrity.

However, as paper and plastic have a poor bonding compatibility, even a coated straw may have uncoated patches - or patches that can easily tear or break - thus allowing the paper straw to take on water and quickly become soggy.

Conventional paper straws can also prove difficult to recycle and, in some cases - when coated in polyethylene - can still release microplastics into the environment as they break down after use.

Until now, biodegradable coatings have proved problematic - due to problems with decomposition, cost and limitations on mass-production - but now researchers in Korea may have found the solution.

Dr Oh Dongyeop and his team at the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology synthesised a well-known biodegradable plastic - polybutylene succinate (PBS) - by adding to it a small number of cellulose nanocrystals.

These nanocrystals are the same material as the main component of paper, thus allowing the modified bioplastic to firmly attach to the paper surface during the coating process.

This improved coating allowed the straws to keep their shape during use, whilst also biodegrading - even in the ocean - in less than 120 days.

The breakthrough could offer an economical, easy-to-produce and 100 percent biodegradable alternative to traditional plastic straws - which the researchers believe marks a significant step in the right direction.

"This technology is but a small step toward the direction we need to take in this era of plastic," said Dr Dongyeop.

"Turning a plastic straw we often use into a paper straw will not immediately impact our environment, but the difference will be profound over time.

"If we gradually change from using conventional disposable plastic products to various eco-friendly products, our future environment will be much safer than what we now worry about."

Plastic straws were among a number of 'single-use' items banned by the UK Government in July 2021, in a bid to help tackle plastic waste and to protect natural environments and marine wildlife.

Many companies have invested heavily in developing new environmentally-friendly replacements for single-use products, across a range of industries.

Twickenham Stadium in London - home of the England rugby team - last year announced it was to replace all plastic pint glasses sold in the ground with a self-destructing biodegradable plastic pint glass.

The breakthrough product was created by British innovators Polymateria, who have been making waves in the packaging industry with a range of new biodegradable products that are scientifically proven to leave behind no microplastics.

Leading UK manufacturer Polybags has already added a number of new products to their market-leading eco packaging range - all of which feature Polymateria's breakthrough biotransformation technology.

Now, following developments in Korea, can we expect fully biodegradable paper straws to join the list of innovative new products to hit the shelves in the not-too-distant future?

Aldi joins Podback recycling scheme

Retailer becomes first supermarket to join coffee pod-recycling project

Aldi is set to become the first supermarket to join the Podback recycling scheme, helping its customers to easily recycle their used coffee pods.

In an industry first, the discount retailer will introduce its own-label pods into the Podback scheme, whilst also promoting the free recycling service to customers in over 980 stores nationwide.

Podback's mission is: "To create a world where every coffee pod is recycled."

Launched in 2021, Podback is the first recycling service of its kind in the UK. It has seen major coffee brands including Nespresso, Nescafe Dolce Gusto and Tassimo come together to make recycling coffee, tea and hot chocolate pods as easy as possible.

Membership has grown to include 16 brands from across the coffee sector and now Aldi is the first supermarket to get on board.

From early 2023, Aldi customers can visit the Podback website to order pod recycling bags. Once they have these, they can either take their used pods to one of 6,500 Collect+ drop off points or, if they live in a participating local authority area, they can also register for kerbside collections.

Plastic and aluminium coffee pods are recyclable, but due to their small size and organic contents, current waste collection and sorting processes are not suitable for processing them, so they usually end up in landfill waste.

Pods recycled through Podback are reprocessed within the UK to recover the plastic, aluminium and coffee, with all materials given a second life.

Aldi is one of the market leaders in own-label coffee pods. By joining Podback, the supermarket's customers could help to recycle up to 268 tonnes of plastic and 20 tonnes of aluminum Aldi coffee pods each year.

Aldi's plastics and packaging director Richard Gorman said: "We’re pleased to be joining Podback on this journey – especially as the first supermarket member.

"It’s important to us that we help customers do the right thing once our hot drink pods have been used, and we look forward to seeing how our partnership with Podback progresses."

Rick Hindley, Executive Director at Podback, said: "We are delighted to welcome Aldi as the first supermarket brand member of Podback. This marks a key milestone for the programme and we are looking forward to working with Aldi to promote our service to their customers.

"We hope other retailers will follow Aldi’s lead and offer their own-brand pod customers the opportunity to recycle through Podback."

Image courtesy of Aldi.

Six ways to cut down on packaging waste this Christmas

Top tips for reducing waste and making greener packaging choices this festive season

Christmas is a time for giving… and it won't just be Santa dishing out gifts to all the good girls and boys on 25th December.

Around the world, family members, friends and loved ones will exchange presents, gifts and cards to open on the big day, as a sign of their love and affection.

As the song goes, it's the most wonderful time of the year for many people, but Christmas does have its drawbacks and the amount of packaging waste created is up there among the biggest.

We won't go back over exactly how much packaging is wasted, as there are plenty of articles out there covering that - including our own list of UK Christmas packaging waste facts from last year.

Instead, we'll focus on the positives and suggest a few ways that anyone can make their Christmas a little bit greener, with our six of the best tips for reducing your packaging waste this Christmas.

1. Try a Secret Santa

Perhaps the simplest way to reduce our packaging waste at Christmas would be to stop giving gifts altogether, but where's the fun in that?

However, one idea that many families or groups of friends or colleagues do is set up a Secret Santa - sometimes known as a Christkindl - where everyone involved draws one other person's name out of a hat - or an electronic equivalent - and buys a present just for that person.

Fewer presents overall means less packaging, less wrapping paper and less waste.

But not only does it save on packaging waste, but it also saves everyone a few valuable quid.

2. Reuse old gift bags and wrapping

One of the biggest offenders on the list of packaging waste at Christmas is wrapping paper.

According to WRAP (Waste Resources Action Programme), in 2013 we threw away around 239,000 miles of wrapping paper. That's enough to reach the moon, or to wrap around the equator 10 times!

Whilst it's not the most exciting thing to be doing on Christmas Day, if you're able to salvage any wrapping paper after presents have been open, then save it for next year, as it can be reused.

That's obviously more easily said than done when excitable kids rip open presents, but if the paper is in a fit condition to save, then save it!

One thing that lend themselves perfectly to reuse is gift bags. Many online retailers - and thinking of one big one in particular - offer a gift wrapping service that uses strong and attractive gift bags that can be used a number of times and still look great.

Of course, any wrapping paper that can be recycled should be recycled, rather than binned. Don't buy gift wrap that contains foil or glitter. It might look pretty, but it can't be recycled, so should be avoided at all costs if you want to reduce packaging waste.

3. Try wrapping gifts using a furoshiki

Furoshiki are traditional Japanese cloths that are used to wrap and/or transport goods.

They provide not only a beautiful and eye-catching way to wrap presents (see picture at top of article), but they are also a sustainable alternative to using wrapping paper.

Wrapping Christmas gifts in furoshiki has become more popular outside of Japan in recent years, including here in the UK, as we become a more eco-conscious society.

However, there is a big warning with choosing furoshiki as an eco-friendly wrapping option.

As cotton, silk, nylon or other materials used to make furoshiki take greater energy and resources to produce than a piece of wrapping paper, furoshiki only become an eco-friendly alternative if they are used repeatedly.

Exactly how many times is not clear but, to give you an idea, a cotton tote shopping bag has to be used no fewer than 131 times to have a lower environmental impact than a simple plastic carrier bag used just once, or a paper bag used four times.

What's more, furoshiki are not cheap to buy, so you might need to choose carefully about who you are gifting them to!

If you can keep them in the family and use them over and over again - or gift them to someone you know will reuse it themselves - then furoshiki could prove a beautiful and sustainable alternative to wrapping paper.

4. Regift unwanted items

Of course, it's not just the paper that presents are wrapped in that contributes to packaging waste. The packaging for the gifts themselves is usually thrown out straight away.

Worse still is when the present itself is thrown away. Yes, that happens! According to a poll by Finder last year, as many as 6% of unwanted gifts are simply thrown away - that's one in 16 presents!

Now we're sure our fine readers are not amongst the culprits, but just in case anyone thinks of doing so this year: please don't throw out any presents!

If you receive a gift you don't like, why not just re-gift it to someone else you know would like it? Not only will it brighten up their day, but it means the gift - and the packaging containing it - doesn't go to waste.

If the gift is so bad that you can't think of anyone you know who will like it, then give it to your local charity shop. There's an owner out there who will love and cherish that gift - it just needs to find them.

5. Go wrap-free!

We earlier suggested that perhaps the simplest way to reduce packaging waste would be to stop giving Christmas presents altogether.

But of course there's a simpler (and less Grinch-y) way - keep giving presents but don't wrap them in anything!

Let your presents run free, on display to the world in all their glory. After all, the wrapping paper only ever comes off in the end anyway, which is perhaps what Santa is thinking when he stops off in Ireland every year.

As recently as 2016, a poll by Irish news website The Journal found that a majority of Irish households (54%) receive their presents from Santa without any wrapping paper on at all.

Whilst this revelation is difficult for some people to comprehend, if it's good enough to most of the kids in Ireland, who all still have a magical Christmas, then it must be worth a try.

So why not follow Santa's Irish traditions and give your presents the Full Monty treatment this year, thereby helping to cut down packaging waste while you're at it?

6. Go compostable

Not all packaging needs to end up in the recycling bin - or worse still, in landfill - after use (or ideally reuse).

There is an ever-growing range of products made from compostable polymers that will biodegradable into natural elements - e.g. water, carbon dioxide and minerals - when disposed of with your food waste.

At present, these materials are not widely used for wrapping Christmas presents, but there are a range of uses that lend themselves to the Christmas period and could therefore reduce festive waste if more widely used.

Top UK manufacturer Polybags offers a market-leading range of mailing bags, including these strong compostable co-extruded mailing bags that are great for sending Christmas presents in the post. Their eco-mailer range also includes a selection of compostable mailing bags in a variety of colours, including white, green, black, clear and translucent milky-white.

Polybags also offer a great range of compostable vest carrier bags that can be used to both carry home your Christmas dinner ingredients from the supermarket, and then collect up any scraps for disposing of with the food waste after use - but please keep these a minimum as we should also be cutting down on food waste this Christmas!

Everyone at Packaging Knowledge would like to wish all of our readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Ocado tackling plastic waste with potential 'game-changing' trial

Retailer teams up with Polytag to launch 'world-first' online digital deposit return scheme

Online supermarket Ocado is launching a 'world-first' trial in a bid to improve the UK's plastic recycling rate.

The online retail giant has teamed up with technology business Polytag to trial a new online Digital Deposit Return Scheme (DDRS), that will allow customers to claim a deposit back on used milk bottles sent for recycling.

During the 12-week trial, over 1.6m bottles of milk - two- and four-litre sizes - will be sold featuring a unique QR code on the label, along with a clear call-to-action and instructions for shoppers.

When the QR codes are scanned from a mobile phone, they will open up a customised Ocado website that includes details of the reward scheme.

The landing page, which will change each week, will also provide Ocado with the means to promote messages on sustainability, such as preventing food waste or ensuring customers use their fridges efficiently.

Polytag CEO Alice Rackley believes that the trial could prove to be a massive breakthrough for the industry.

"This world-first trial has game-changing implications for recycling in this country," said Rackley.

"A successful trial will be a significant step towards the implementation of a DDRS in this country that will provide a much more convenient and environmentally friendly way for households to recover their deposits.

"Not only that, but brands will also be presented with radical new marketing tools and a wealth of data on how consumers are recycling their products."

Laura Fernandez, Senior Packaging and Sustainability Manager at Ocado, said: "As the world's largest online supermarket, we champion the use of innovative technology as we strive to become the UK’s most sustainable grocery retailer.

"Polytag's digital platform offers plenty of environmental and economic benefits for retailers and customers alike – it's easy to use and when used at scale, could have a hugely positive impact on the nation's deposit return scheme.

"We’re looking forward to seeing how our customers respond to the trial and how many would redeem their deposit at home."

Images courtesy of Ocado and Polytag.

WRAP highlights Plastics Pact progress but more work to do

Recycling rates have improved but some 2025 targets unlikely to be met

• Recycled content in packaging has more than doubled in three years
• Massive reduction in unnecessary and hard to recycle components in packaging
• But 70% recycling rate may not be possible without widespread plastic bag collection
• Supermarket collection points to play an even more vital role in meantime

Recycling rates in the UK have improved significantly since 2018 but more urgent action is required to meet environmental targets, a new report from the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has revealed.

WRAP's latest annual report on the UK Plastics Pact - signed by a collection of business and government organisations in 2018 to tackle the problem of plastic waste - shows that the group is currently on track to meet only two of its four targets for 2025.

Huge reductions have been made in the use of problem plastics in the last three years, whilst the level of recycled content in packaging has more than doubled over that period.

But two ambitious targets on recycling levels in the UK are unlikely to be met, thanks largely to inadequate plastic bag recycling provision in the UK, along with the closure of export markets.

WRAP's director of collaboration and change Catherine David said: "COP27 made it clear that we are not on track to mitigate the worst impacts of the climate crisis. Accelerating action by businesses is paramount.

"The businesses signed up to our agreement are leading the way in transforming the plastic packaging sector, demonstrating what is possible, and helping inform government's thinking on needed regulatory levers.

"Today's reports show the mountain we need to climb, and we call on all businesses to join us on this journey and be part of changing our consumption systems in line with a sustainable future."

2025 targets

Led by WRAP, the 2018 UK Plastics Pact saw a collection of businesses, associates and supporters commit to four ambitious targets aimed at reducing plastic waste by 2025.

With the halfway point to these targets now behind us, the Pact's 2021-22 annual report gives an "honest appraisal" of its progress against these targets, examples of good collaboration and innovation, along with an assessment of the challenges it faces.

Target 1: Eliminate problematic and unnecessary single-use plastic

Progress: There has been an 84% reduction in problematic and unnecessary single-use plastics between 2018 and 2021. This equates to 620 million fewer items on the shelf (114m vs 734m) with tonnage down to 9,000 tonnes - a reduction of 57%.

Tesco was highlighted in the report for taking a positive lead, having removed more than 1.7 billion pieces of plastic, including plastic wrapping from tin multipacks and branded beer and cider, additional lids from wipes, creams, yoghurts and desserts, as well as plastic forks from prepared salads.

Target 2: 100% of plastics packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable

Progress: 70% of plastic packaging is recyclable today - up from 66% in 2018. For rigid plastics, this figure is now 92%, up from 81% in 2018. There has also been a 90% reduction in hard-to-recycle plastics.

However, despite this progress, WRAP warns that inadequate provision for the recycling of plastic bags means the overall target will not be met by 2025.

Soft-plastic recycling is available at many major supermarkets, with Aldi recently becoming the latest to offer recycling points across its UK stores by the end of this year.

WRAP has welcomed this initiative, but has warned that at-scale recycling of bags and wrapping through kerbside collections will be required for the UK Plastics Pact to meet this ambitious target.

The report also highlights the need for the many trials to move to reusable packaging to be scaled.

Target 3: 70% of plastic packaging effectively recycled or composted

Progress: 50% of plastic packaging is recycled - up from 44% in 2018.

However, despite this progress, WRAP warns that members will not meet this target by 2025, as the recycling rate actually fell between 2020 and 2021.

For the first time in nearly 20 years the amount of plastic packaging processed in the UK exceeds the amount exported - largely due to the closure of export markets for recycled packaging.

So despite an increase in the amount of plastic packaging being recycled in the UK, with much more plastic to be recycled, the overall recycling rate declined last year.

WRAP highlights the need for significant investment in UK recycling, particularly as export markets become less reliable.

Target 4: 30% average recycled content across all plastic packaging

Progress: Recycled content levels have risen from 8.5% in 2018 to 22% in 2021.

The reduction in the use of virgin plastic, combined with this increase in recycled content delivered a saving of 260,000 tonnes of CO2e. This is a 9% reduction in CO2e since 2018, which is equivalent to taking 119,000 cars off the road.

Pact members placed 205,000 tonnes of recycled content in primary packaging ahead of the introduction of the Plastic Packaging Tax in April 2022.

UK manufacturers have also followed suit, with a greater offering of recycled-content products available than just 12 months ago.

Leading the way is Polybags, who this year introduced over 100 new products containing 30% or more recycled content across more than a dozen product ranges.

Among them are a number of their most popular products, including these best-selling mailing bags made from 100% recycled material.

Images courtesy of WRAP. The UK Plastics Pact annual report is available on the WRAP website.

UK seaweed packaging startup wins £1m Earthshot prize

Natural alternative to plastic packaging among green innovations rewarded by Prince of Wales

A British company that creates packaging from seaweed has won a £1m prize from the Prince of Wales’s Earthshot fund.

London startup Notpla - short for Not Plastic - was one of five companies awarded $1.2m (£1m) for scaling up innovative ideas that benefit the environment.

Notpla's seaweed-based products include an edible drinks capsule trialled at the 2019 London marathon and takeaway food boxes - over a million of which have been produced this year for delivery platform JustEat.

The Hackney-based company was co-founded by Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez and Pierre Paslier, who met while studying innovation design engineering at Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art.

"When Rodrigo and I started Notpla eight years ago in our student kitchen, we would have never imagined we would be here today," said Paslier.

"No-one wants to live in a world full of plastic waste but it's not too late to act. There's never been a greater time to use natural solutions to solve the plastic challenge."

Inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s Moonshot challenge in the 1960s and launched by the Prince of Wales in 2020, the Earthshot Prize aims to discover and help scale innovative solutions that put the world firmly on a trajectory toward a stable climate by 2030.

Every year this decade, five Earthshot winners will be chosen for their groundbreaking solutions to five of the greatest environmental challenges facing our planet.

Notpla's award came in a category entitled Build a Waste-Free World, whilst the other categories - Clean our Air, Protect and Restore Nature, Revive our Oceans and Fix our Climate - saw winners from Kenya, India, Australia and Oman respectively.

All prize winners were determined by the Earthshot Council - a panel of judges that included HRH Prince William, broadcaster and environmentalist Sir David Attenbrough, World Trade Organisation director-general Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, actor Cate Blanchett and pop star Shakira Mebarak.

Speaking at the ceremony, The Prince of Wales said: "I believe that the Earthshot solutions you have seen this evening prove we can overcome our planet's greatest challenges. And by supporting and scaling them we can change our future.

"Alongside tonight's winners and finalists, and those to be discovered over the years to come, it's my hope the Earthshot legacy will continue to grow, helping our communities and our planet to thrive."

Image courtesy of the Earthshot Prize.

Be sure to catch Santa's sleigh - your last posting dates for Christmas 2022

With strikes and delays on the cards, Royal Mail advises posting early to beat the festive rush

The countdown to Christmas is now well and truly underway, with people all over the world looking to post cards and presents to their nearest and dearest.

These next few weeks will see more post sent than at any time of year and, for those of us who live in the UK, there are two main options for getting your presents delivered this Christmas - the first is good auld Saint Nick and the other is the Royal Mail.

Now, if you've all been good boys and girls, then the first route should prove as trustworthy as ever. Santa Claus is reliable as it gets, but we can't be so certain about the second option.

With Royal Mail staff amongst the many workers undertaking strike action this winter, there are potential delays to both domestic and international mail.

If you want to be certain that your gifts and cards arrive in time for Christmas Day, the Royal Mail's advice is short but clear:

"Allow plenty of time for posting. Please post items and gifts for Christmas early, particularly for international deliveries."

Royal Mail's recommended last posting dates for Christmas 2022:

Domestic Services

• Fri 16 December: Royal Mail Bulk Mail Economy
• Mon 19 December: 2nd Class, 2nd Class Signed For, Royal Mail 48
• Wed 21 December: 1st Class, 1st Class Signed For, Royal Mail 24, Royal Mail Tracked 48*
• Thu 22 December: Special Delivery Guaranteed, Royal Mail Tracked 24*
• Fri 23 December: Special Delivery Guaranteed with Saturday Guarantee

* Not available to purchase at Post Office branches. You can buy postage online.

International Standard, Tracking and Signature Services

• Thu 1 December: Australia & New Zealand
• Fri 2 December: China
• Mon 5 December: Caribbean (except British Virgin Islands, Dominica & Anguilla)
• Wed 7 December: South & Central America, Asia (except China), Africa, Far & Middle East
• Thu 8 December: Cyprus, Malta, Greece, Turkey, Eastern Europe (except Czech Republic, Poland & Slovakia)
• Sat 10 December: USA, Canada, Poland, Czech Republic, Italy, Sweden, Finland
• Mon 12 December: Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Slovakia, Denmark, Norway, Iceland
• Tue 13 December: France, Belgium, Luxembourg

International HM Forces Airmail

• Fri 2 December: To Operational & Static HM Forces

Parcelforce Worldwide

A range of international delivery services are available to over 225 countries worldwide at parcelforce.com.

E-commerce industry set for busy Christmas period

2022 has been a challenging year for the retail industry, with the lingering impacts of Covid-19, supply chain issues, inflation and the associated cost-of-living crisis all proving strong headwinds.

These challenges - and tightened household budgets - will impact the e-commerce sector as much as it will traditional bricks-and-mortar retail this year.

However, one thing is for sure - with e-commerce operations transformed globally during the early part of the pandemic, online sales continue to soar.

Market and consumer data specialist Statista estimates that the global e-commerce sales reached US $4.9 trillion in 2021, up almost 50% from 2019 ($3.3 trillion) with predictions that this figure will top US $7 trillion by 2025.

A strong e-commerce sector is here to stay and, despite the current gloomy economic outlook, online retailers in the UK can still expect a busy few weeks as Christmas approaches.

Stock up for the Christmas rush

With the busiest few weeks of the year ahead, e-commerce retailers will need to ensure that they are well stocked up on packaging essentials before the festive rush, but the good news is that leading UK manufacturer Polybags is setup to deliver last-minute Christmas packaging top-ups as they are needed.

Polybags offers a huge range of quality mailing bags and postal envelopes that are perfect for Christmas deliveries, with their 100%-recycled mailing bag handy packs available in small batches of just 200 bags - ideal for a quick Christmas top-up.

If you're looking for a mailing bag with a bit more Christmas sparkle, then Polybags' range of sparkling mailing bags could even be posted directly to the recipient, as they would look perfectly at home under the tree.

As with all of their products, Polybags' extensive mailing bag range is available with fast and free UK delivery as standard, whilst the company also offer a range of express next day options for those really in a hurry.

So whether you're posting parcels to customers, or presents directly to loved ones - make sure you've got the packaging you need and you get your post off on time this Christmas - otherwise you'll be on the hotline to Santa to bail you out!

Please note: The dates listed above are a guide only and are correct at the time of publication. However, we recommend that you check the Royal Mail website for the latest service updates in the run-up to Christmas.