Only two out of 74 European supermarkets are working in earnest to lighten their plastic footprint by reducing packaging of own-brand products or using recycled plastics, and actively participating in public reuse and recycling policies.
Actions related to plastic pollution from retail giants have been assessed by Changing Markets Foundation and Break Free From Plastic, authors of a new report under the Talking Trash project. (1)
Plastic footprint, the parameters
The plastic footprint assessment of the 74 largest European supermarkets is based on three parameters:
The total scores were composed of three parts (i)
– transparency, in terms of disclosure of data on the amount of plastic used in the supermarket’s own-brand products and share of sales of recycled or reusable packaging,
– plastic packaging targets that companies have taken on and published,
– Support for government policies of reuse and/or recycling through deposit return systems.
The ideal supermarket
The authors of the report submitted a questionnaire to large-scale retail chains. By combining the best responses, they created a best-in-class imaginary distributor that scored a total of 82.7 percent.
The simulation shows that most plastic packaging problems can be addressed by taking a cue from other chains’ programs.
Aldi’s commitment
The average total score achieved by the 74 operators was 13 out of 100.
Aldi UK and Aldi Ireland are the only two companies that score above 60.
According to the report’s authors, ‘82 percent [delle aziende] did not provide the most basic information about their plastic footprint, which casts a shadow of doubt on their quantitative commitments, where they exist, because they lack a baseline.’
Notes
Changing Markets Foundation and Break Free From Plastic. Under wraps. What Europe’s supermarkets aren’t telling us about plastic, May 2022. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Under-wraps_FULL-REPORT_FINAL.pdf
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
