Supermarkets should be banned from selling fresh produce such as bananas, apples and potatoes in plastic packaging so we can go back to shopping “like our nan”, according to the influential anti-waste charity Wrap.
It is calling for the government to ban packaging on 21 fruit and vegetables sold in supermarkets, including salad tomatoes, carrots and avocados, by 2030.
After weighing up the other options – including new taxes or subsidies – Wrap said a government ban would be the most effective way to break a cycle that contributes to UK households throwing away nearly 100bn pieces of plastic packaging a year and results in huge amounts of food waste.
Faced with the same plastic problem, other countries such as France have already passed laws banning packaging on many fresh products.
Harriet Lamb, Wrap’s chief executive, conceded “this will be hard” for British shoppers schooled to buy fruit and veg in packets, adding that any ban would be “one of the biggest changes in the retail landscape in a while”.
In 2018, UK supermarkets and food companies signed up to voluntary targets to cut plastic packaging. The goals of the UK Plastics Pact – led by Wrap, whose work helps shape government policy on sustainability matters – included the target that 50% of uncut fruit and veg be sold loose by the end of the decade.
The call for a ban suggests this target will not be met without government intervention, with Wrap calling for a formal consultation.
A progress report published late last year said that in 2022 an average of 19.4% of fresh produce sales was loose, with the proportion by retailer varying from 2% to 30%. By comparison, in mainland Europe it is 50%.
Plastic packaging had resulted in less store waste, simpler production lines and tidier shelves, Lamb said, but the flipside was about 30% of the fresh produce bought ending up in the bin because set pack sizes forced people to buy too much.
A packaging ban on the 21 foods (when sold in amounts less than 1.5kg) could eliminate 100,000 tonnes of fruit and veg from the bin annually and 13,000 tonnes of single-use plastic film, Wrap said. It proposes a second phase that would extend the ban to all uncut produce with some exemptions, such as soft fruits and herbs.
While two-thirds of shoppers claim they prefer to select and weigh produce, they do not always do so in practice. In stores where loose produce is already being sold, Lamb urged people to shop “like our nan back in the day when everyone chose what they wanted in the grocery store”.
Companies needed to make it easy for shoppers to make price comparisons and weigh produce, she said, but the “final step in the dance is the regulation with a timeline, creating a level playing field and a mandate to change”.
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The call for a ban comes as separate research found 51% of food and drink items in UK supermarkets come in unnecessary plastic packaging, amounting to 29.8bn avoidable pieces annually.
The study, commissioned by the packaging giant DS Smith, looked at more than 1,500 products, and found the worst offenders were processed foods including ready meals and meal kits. Avoidable plastic was found on 90% of ready meals and meal kits, 89% of bread, rice and cereal items, 83% of dairy products and 80% of meat and fish.
In a statement, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “This government is committed to cleaning up Britain and cracking down on plastic waste. We will roll out extended producer responsibility [a new packaging tax] to incentivise businesses to cut plastic packaging and the deposit return scheme to incentivise consumers to recycle.”
The plastic packaging ban hitlist
Apples
Aubergines
Avocados
Bananas
Broccoli
Cabbages
Carrots
Garlic
Ginger
Lemons
Limes
Mangos
Onions
Oranges
Parsnips
Pears
Peppers
Potatoes
Salad tomatoes
Squash
Swede