Sainsbury’s to save 560 tonnes of plastic a year with new bakery packaging

New packaging will be used across almost 40 own-brand baked goods moving forward, with Sainsbury’s claiming that the switch will save 560 tonnes of plastic from being thrown away each year.

Over the coming months, all doughnuts and pastries (which were previously stored in plastic clam-shell style packaging) are switching to cardboard and paper-based alternatives that contain 90% less plastic.

Doughnuts will be packed in card boxes with a small window and twin-pack pastries, while croissants and cinnamon swirls are moving to paper bags. This will reduce plastic packaging by 414 tonnes annually.

Elsewhere, Sainsbury’s is removing all full plastic bags across its loaves, baguettes and batons, resulting in an up to 60% reduction in plastic.

The plastic packaging has been replaced with recyclable paper bags with a plastic window and is projected to save around 152 tonnes of plastic a year.

The window on the new packaging can be separated from the card box and paper bag and recycled at any front-of-store recycling points at Sainsbury’s supermarkets. The card and paper can be recycled via kerbside recycling bins.

These changes come shortly after Sainsbury’s announced it was ceasing the use of plastic across its mushroom packaging, leading to an annual saving of 775 tonnes. It was also the first UK retailer to switch all its kitchen and toilet roll packaging from plastic to paper, saving over 485 tonnes of plastic a year. 

Making recycling easier

Claire Hughes, director of product and innovation at Sainsbury’s, commented: “We’re aiming to offer more sustainable options across our own-brand products wherever possible. The packaging changes across our bakery products will save over 560 tonnes of plastic a year, including on popular household favourites like pastries and doughnuts.​

"With a 90% plastic reduction across pastries and 60% across bread, we hope to make it easier for customers to recycle at home.”​

In a recent article for Food Manufacture​​, Melissa Haskell, partner in the regulatory & licensing teams at Knights, warned food and drink that significant regulatory changes relating to packaging are expected in the wake of a new Labour Government.

Such regulations are set to be designed in order to cut down on waste and reduce the impact of the packing industry on the environment.

“Speaking with businesses, they are increasingly expected to take responsibility for their environmental impact, not just in terms of plastic use but also in other areas like recycling and reducing waste,”​ Haskell said.