Sustainable operation: plastic – reduce, recycle and reuse
Plastic packaging offers a wide range of benefits to food producers and consumers.
It allows food to be transported safely, for longer distances and protects it from contaminants. It helps both to preserve food and cut waste. Key information such as nutritional content or allergy advice can be easily displayed.
However, growing concern about the negative impact of plastic waste on wildlife and the natural environment, prompted us to explore what we could do to make a difference.
Our plastic strategy
We started by undertaking a comprehensive review of our use of plastic packaging, across the brands and private label products we manufacture.
Our review focused on the three Rs – reduce, reuse and recycle. How could we use less plastic, use more recycled plastic and make our packaging more recyclable?
With six production sites and literally hundreds of packaging formats, we have set ourselves a substantial challenge!
Innovation through partnership
We are also working closely with our packaging suppliers to find ways to identify and eliminate problematic plastics which are difficult to recycle, including complex and multi-layer films or polymers and OPP orientated polypropylene.
We are reviewing our packaging designs to see if we can reduce the total amount of plastic we use, decrease the quantity of virgin material we use and increase our use of recycled material.
This is just the start of our journey to Making Better HappenTM across our packaging. We will continue to drive improvements by investigating new solutions, and working with customers towards shared sustainability goals to make a positive impact on our planet.