A recent investigation led by Everyday Plastic and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has cast doubt on the effectiveness of soft plastic recycling programs implemented by major UK supermarkets. The initiative, introduced in 2021 by Tesco and Sainsbury’s, offered front-of-store collection points for soft plastic packaging as part of their efforts to reduce their plastic footprint. However, a deeper look into the program suggests that these efforts may be misleading consumers about their true environmental impact.
The investigation, carried out over several months in 2023 and 2024, involved placing 40 tracking devices inside soft plastic packaging and depositing them at recycling collection points across England. The trackers revealed a troubling reality: not one of the collected bundles was recycled in a closed-loop system, meaning they were not turned into new plastic products. Instead, 70% of the tracked waste was incinerated, and a significant portion was sent abroad, primarily to Turkey, where it was downcycled into lower-value products like bin bags and composite timber boards.
The findings highlight a critical issue: while these supermarkets claim to recycle soft plastics, most of the waste is either burned or repurposed into products that have limited future recyclability. This casts doubt on the effectiveness of the recycling schemes, which have been touted as environmentally responsible options for reducing plastic waste. In reality, the current infrastructure in the UK is ill-equipped to handle soft plastic recycling at scale, and the technological solutions, such as chemical recycling, remain largely unproven.
Moreover, the investigation suggests that these schemes may be obstructing more meaningful solutions. The perceived convenience of recycling could lead to increased plastic consumption, as consumers may feel justified in using more plastic when they believe it will be recycled. This, according to the report, detracts from more impactful measures higher on the waste hierarchy, such as eliminating, reducing, or reusing packaging materials.
Environmental law NGO ClientEarth has argued that these take-back schemes may be in violation of consumer protection laws due to the misleading nature of the recycling claims. The investigation urges supermarkets to be more transparent with customers about the limitations of soft plastic recycling and to push for stronger government regulations aimed at reducing plastic production and use.
Among the key recommendations, the report calls for supermarkets to drastically reduce single-use plastic packaging, stop exporting waste, and support global efforts to cut plastic production by 40% by 2040. It also advocates for the UK government to set legally binding targets to reduce plastic waste, ban plastic exports by 2027, and halt the construction of new waste incineration facilities.
As public concern over plastic pollution grows, the findings of this investigation underscore the need for more aggressive and transparent action from both industry and policymakers. Without significant changes, the reliance on ineffective recycling schemes could perpetuate the very problem they claim to solve.
