Waitrose & Partners, DS Smith and Primafruit have worked together to produce a cardboard punnet to save the food retailer 12 tonnes of plastic packaging a year. The closed-loop packaging consisting of recycled fibres, which are fully recyclable at their end of life, helps Waitrose reduce the use of plastic and meet a company-wide pledge on packaging sustainability.
David Ellerington, head of business development, UK Packaging for DS Smith said: “By transitioning to cardboard, the entire supply chain benefits and consumers can more easily recycle the packaging. Cardboard is a truly biodegradable and 100% recyclable packaging material – made from the fibres of recycled paper and cardboard. This not only avoids the felling of new trees, but also ensures that the packaging is easily recyclable at the kerbside for consumers at its end of life.”
The move to a cardboard tray for Waitrose Duchy Organic grapes was the first pledge to be met as part of Waitrose & Partners’ seven packaging pledges to honour The Prince of Wales’s, seven decades of leadership on sustainability.
Foodanddrinktechnology.com explains how not only is the packaging environmentally friendly, but it also offers Waitrose Duchy Organic the opportunity to increase its brand visibility in-store. The shape of the new punnet allows for a flexible shelf position, making in-store merchandising of the produce easier and more adaptable to the layout of each supermarket.