Plastic packaging is the most dominant end-use sector for plastic consumption and is expected to remain so, with soft plastic packaging being the fastest-growing plastic packaging category.

2023 estimates show that over 215 billion items of soft plastic packaging are placed on the market each year in the UK.

Theoretically, yes, soft plastic is recyclable. But, it’s already widely acknowledged by the waste management industry and the UK Government  that soft plastic packaging is incredibly challenging to recycle at scale.

Plans are in place for widespread kerbside collection of soft plastic across the UK in 3 years’ time. In the meantime, both the schemes and the OPRL labelling are seen as important catalysts in stimulating a market for soft plastic recycling. The supermarket take-back schemes are also said to encourage consumers to develop the habit of separating soft plastic. Currently, the vast majority of local authorities, 88%, do not collect soft plastics at the kerbside for recycling.

Take-back schemes and on-pack labelling are enabling supermarkets and brands to state that soft plastic packaging is recyclable. As a direct result of the OPRL labelling – which saw the majority of soft plastic packaging switch from ‘Do not recycle’ to ‘Recycle with bags at large supermarkets’,  Sainsbury’s and Tesco are close to achieving their ambitious packaging recyclability targets. 

“The front of store recycling points will make it easier than ever for customers to make more sustainable choices by offering a trustworthy recycling system where they can correctly dispose of flexible plastic packaging. This includes packaging such as crisp packets, food pouches, salad bags and biscuit and cake wrappers which 83% of UK local authorities currently don’t accept for recycling” - Sainsbury's

“The collection points will allow customers to return all their previously unrecycled soft plastic, such as the clear film used to wrap meat and fish, crisp packets, fruit and veg bags and sweet wrappers, rather than having to throw it away. Most councils don’t collect soft plastic from homes for recycling so it typically goes to waste.” - Tesco

Yes. A number of issues have been flagged with supermarket soft plastic take-back schemes since their introduction in 2021 – and their rapidly increasing roll-out  across the UK since. This includes coverage in an investigative piece by Bloomberg, an article in E&T, and a report written by the Environmental Investigation Agency, published in July 2022 [‘The Great UK Soft Plastics Scandal’.]

The findings from our tracker investigation indicate just how hard it is to recycle post-consumer soft plastic packaging in the UK. Our results show that: 

• None of the soft plastics bundles placed in front-of-store collection points were closed-loop recycled. 

• 70% of soft plastic that reached a known final waste facility destination was burnt, not recycled.

• The rest ended up at recycling facilities that downcycle soft plastic waste into lower value products (such as bin bags, carrier bags and composite timber boards) – 80% of which were sent to recycling facilities abroad, the majority to Türkiye.

The collection points are part of a system that means we’re seeing a growing dependency on soft plastic packaging despite the challenges of recycling this type of packaging. 

Our investigation has shown that take-back schemes are currently a false solution - our main concern is the potential they have for undermining genuine solutions, such as reduction and reuse.

In a scenario where reduction of unnecessary soft plastic packaging had been prioritised, and extensive reuse and refill initiatives were widely adopted, there would certainly still be a need to develop viable recycling solutions for the remaining unavoidable soft plastic packaging. 

This report is not prescribing citizens to take any action. We want this investigation to provide people with the full picture so they can make more informed decisions that are appropriate to them.

The customer response to these schemes should be viewed as a positive thing. That people are prepared to save all their soft plastic packaging waste at home and return it to the store demonstrates a high level of goodwill and a desire to do their bit to tackle the plastic crisis.

The results of our investigation show that these supermarket take-schemes lack transparency about what really happens to the plastic packaging that is returned by customers. A legal report has warned that claims around soft plastic recycling are misleading customers, so it is vital that supermarkets offer shoppers the truth and the opportunity to make informed decisions. 

In their current form, the schemes have the potential to undermine genuine solutions, such as elimination and reuse. Soft plastic recycling is a system in its infancy with many unsolved challenges. There is a need for wider recognition and understanding of the issues with soft plastic in order to eliminate soft plastic and generate buy-in for reuse systems.

If there’s one action we’re encouraging it’s to sign our petition.

The possibility of contaminating the soft plastic with the trackers, and therefore tracking residual waste has been considered in detail and found to be very unlikely, not least because 8 trackers went to recovery facilities (66%) without pinging at other waste facilities able to sort through waste prior and so were likely not sorted in advance. 

Right now, world leaders are negotiating The Global Plastics Treaty – an international legal agreement to prevent the harmful impacts of plastic. This could be a once-in-a-generation chance to protect our planet from plastic pollution. .

We are calling for the UK Government to support a strong, legally binding target to cut global plastic production by 40% by 2040.  And we want Sainsbury’s and Tesco to publicly support this.

We are also calling on supermarkets to:

• Significantly reduce single-use non-essential plastic packaging use, including soft plastic packaging - Continue to invest in and achieve elimination, reduction, reuse and refill voluntary targets but not by increasing the amount of single-use soft plastic packaging that is being used (i.e. lightweighting) or simply substituting it with another material. 

• Stop exporting collected soft plastic packaging waste - Exporting this waste stream, for either incineration for energy recovery or recycling, is not without potential ramifications on recipient countries - especially given it is hard-to-recycle. 

• Be transparent – Until kerbside collections are fully in place, to be more transparent and open with customers around the challenges presented by soft plastic packaging, including communicating how much and where soft plastic packaging collected is being recycled.

We are also asking the UK government to urgently set the following targets: 

• Cut plastic production through elimination by setting legally binding targets to reduce single-use plastic packaging by weight and by unit. 

• Cut plastic production by setting legally binding targets on reuse and refill packaging use. 

• Remove plastic packaging from unprocessed fruit and vegetables by 2030.

• Ban all exports of UK plastic waste by 2027 

• Introduce an immediate moratorium on new incineration and energy-from-waste capacity across the UK 

• Prevent the uptake of chemical recycling as a treatment option for plastic, including packaging 

Sign our petition! We’re calling for Sainsbury’s and Tesco to publicly back a cut in global plastic production. We don’t think the voluntary industry recycling, reuse and reduction targets around plastic packaging they have in place are enough. 

We’ll keep you updated along the way as milestone numbers of signatures are collected! The best place to stay in the loop about the campaign is through our email newsletter which you can choose to subscribe to when you sign the petition.

The more support and signatories the petition receives, the more support it provides Sainsbury’s and Tesco to use their position as large household supermarkets in calling for the UK Government to do the same

In addition, we’re asking supermarkets to take several actions themselves - you can too, by writing a letter or asking them questions on social media. 

You can also share this campaign and the results of our investigation with friends, family and the wider community by using our social media pack or directly sharing our posts!

Plastic is part of the climate change problem. Almost all plastics are made from fossil fuels – oil and gas. Therefore plastic emits greenhouse gases at every single stage of its lifecycle; if we produce less plastic, we can reduce emissions. The remove, reduce, reuse, refill, recycle economy we’re pushing for is a vital step towards tackling climate change.

We can’t solve the plastic problem without big changes that only the government can make happen. We also can’t solve the plastic problem by trying to recycle hard-to-recycle plastics like soft plastic packaging, which soft plastic take-back schemes are trying to do. Ultimately evidence to date indicates that it is the government that needs to level the playing field by adopting targets that will help producers to stop overproducing and switch to reusable packaging that caters to everyone’s needs.

Our report presents a wide range of factors that make soft plastic so challenging to recycle. The truth is that finding a genuine solution for recycling soft plastic at scale is extremely difficult, if not impossible.  

Recycling has a part to play in addressing the plastics crisis but it shouldn’t hold back the core solution which is to eliminate non-essential single-use plastic. Recycling will only ever be a limited solution because it can never catch up with the sheer volume of plastic produced on our planet. Recycling shouldn’t be used by supermarkets, brands, retailers and industry to validate or enable the use of plastic

We’re confident that [supermarkets /recycling labelling organisations] will understand the primary need to reduce the unnecessary use of single use plastic, and can adapt their [bin labels / packaging labels] to comply with consumer protection law and to ensure that this is made clear to the public.

This investigation is focused on soft plastic recycling only - and does not make claims around recycling of any other materials such as glass or aluminium, which whilst not perfect, have much greater levels of genuine recyclability

Recycling should still be a piece of the puzzle, but it will never be the core solution. We are calling for a 50% reduction in single use plastic of the types that we don't need - and this 'we' refers to everyone, not just those who are able-bodied. Plastic that remains available, must be accessible and without stigma, whilst universally designed reusable items are developed which cater to everyone's needs - it should also be recyclable. 

Reduction of plastic packaging (by transitioning to reusable packaging which caters to everyone’s needs) must be the top priority for multinational companies and policy makers globally, and also for individuals. In our households, we need to prioritise reducing and reusing wherever we can (however the extent to which we are able to do this will differ from person to person as some people rely on plastic for independence and quality of life). Once we have to dispose of it, we should take the next proper step, which is recycling.

Well, over half of the plastic waste that the government counts as ‘recycled’ is actually sent overseas for other countries to deal with. Last year we were exporting 1.8 million kilos of the stuff a day, and the countries receiving it can’t cope. Take Türkiye, our top export location until last  summer. Our Government increased exports of plastic here by a factor of 18 between 2016 and 2020, from just 12,000 tonnes in 2016 to a whopping 210,000 tonnes in 2020.

Last year, a Greenpeace investigation found evidence of British plastic waste being dumped in fields, near rivers, on train tracks and by the roadside. In many cases, the plastic, which included packaging from seven of the top 10 UK supermarkets, was on fire or had been burned. This can have serious impacts on health. The consequences of the UK’s ‘recycled’ exports are disproportionately felt by poorer communities and communities of colour.

The UK’s current approach to plastic waste exports is part of a legacy of environmental racism. It is modern colonialism carried out through wealthy, predominantly white countries dumping toxic pollutants on people who lack the power and resources to resist.

Incinerating plastic is not renewable as plastic is made from 99% fossil fuels. In 2019 the UK’s 53 incinerators released a combined total of around 13.3m tonnes of CO₂e, around 6.6 million tonnes of which were from fossil sources such as plastic. Burning one tonne of dense plastic releases 2 tonnes of fossil CO2 (plastic film produces 1.7 tonnes), this is more carbon intensive than coal and almost 3x as bad as gas. Incineration also harms recycling: they need to be consistently fed, therefore incinerators end up competing with recycling facilities for feedstock. Indeed, areas with the highest rates of incineration, also tend to have the lowest rate of recycling. 

Plastic and microplastics (small pieces of plastic less than 5mm) can leach out into nearby soil and water, damaging ecosystems.  Microplastics are often detected in water bodies, sediments and aquatic animals e.g. mussels near landfill. Microplastics can also affect soil organisms. In earthworms, PE plastics have been found to increase mortality and decrease growth rate.

Worms can also transport smaller microplastics from the soil surface causing further leakage. Coastal erosion is threatening to wash the contents of over 1,000 coastal landfill sites into the sea. Many of the sites are also vulnerable to flooding from rising seas and stronger storms. Analysis by ZR zero Waste based on the Climate change Committees pathway still estimates that landfill in the UK will emit 8.8 million tonnes of GHG in 2035 (equivalent to burning over 3.4 million tonnes of coal - in 2020 the UK burned 8.2 million tonnes). 

Plastic is a significant and growing contributor to climate change, and emits greenhouse gases at every single stage of its lifecycle (fossil fuel extraction, transport, refining, manufacture, waste management and its devastating impact on our natural environment).  Plastic production is on the rise - by 2050 could account for 20 percent of global oil production, with greenhouse gas emissions reaching over 56 gigatons—10-13 percent of the entire remaining carbon budget.

Yes! This is why one of our recommendations to policy-makers is to introduce this ban in the UK, too. France’s ban and restrictions of fruit and vegetable plastic packaging was introduced in 2022 - with a ban on plastic packaging used on 30 types of unprocessed fruit and vegetables. This also ensures that by June 2026, all fruits and vegetables must be sold without plastic packaging.

Supermarket decisions on packaging use are currently part of the problem, but they are also a big part of the solution.  We are asking supermarkets to play a committed role in tackling the plastics crisis, by publicly supporting a cut in global plastic production and prioritising reduction over recycling as part of their own voluntary commitments. 

We’re also asking the supermarkets to:

• Significantly reduce single-use non-essential plastic packaging use, including soft plastic packaging.

• Not export collected soft plastic packaging waste.

• Be transparent with customers around the challenges presented by soft plastic packaging.

World leaders are currently negotiating The Global Plastics Treaty - a United Nations Treaty which is an international legal agreement that seeks to address the global plastic pollution problem together. 

The UK Government needs to push for this Treaty to be as strong and ambitious as possible and they have the chance to do this at the fifth and final session of negotiations taking place in November this year - otherwise known as INC-5.

We’re asking the Government to support a strong, legally-binding target to cut global plastic production, at the Global Plastic Treaty negotiations and beyond. We want a bold Treaty which will deliver a cleaner, safer future for people, wildlife and future generations and this year’s negotiations are the last chance to push for this. 

Specifically we want the Treaty to:

1. Ensure a cut to global plastic production of at least 40%, by 2040.

2. End non-essential single-use plastics and the devastation caused to the natural world, as well as human health.

3. Move us towards an economy focused on re-use of materials, so packaging can be kept in circulation and out of the environment.

4. Ensure that reuse/refill packaging alternatives to single-use plastic are developed that work for everyone.