Bowing to pressure from environmentally conscious consumers, big brand shops have begun taking steps to strip their shelves of plastic wrapping over concerns about saving the oceans from waste.
“Nude zones” and “Food in the Nude” campaigns are already being rolled out in places such as New Zealand and South Africa, where many fresh fruits and vegetables are grown within relatively easy reach.
Now retailers in Britain are gradually following suit.
Ms May Stirling travelled 60km from the village of Ramsbury to Oxford for the university city’s “unpackaging” event at the local Waitrose supermarket.
It was selling 160 types of vegetables and fruits, plus cereals, grains, couscous, lentils, wine, beer and other items in bulk, in what was initially planned as an 11-week trial.
Other shoppers have also been pressing the Oxford Waitrose supermarket to do more by providing hundreds of suggestions, such as asking for refillable bottles for items like milk and cleaning products.
Waitrose has said, however, that it has yet to establish whether plastic-free zones would work in all of its 344 locations across Britain, as they need to ensure that the trial is commercially viable.
Plastic packaging is cheaper than some of the other possible options.
So, are shoppers ready to pay more for their groceries to come wrapped in more ecological packaging?
Ms Fran Scott, a 55-year-old marketing consultant, is unsure.
Other big supermarket chains have signed up to “The UK Plastics Pact“.
Tesco and Asda, a low-cost retailer, have promised to stop using plastic for online shopping deliveries.
Morrisons, which like Tesco and Asda is among the biggest five supermarket chains in Britain, intends to install plastic-free produce zones in 60 locations by the end of the year.
Budgens Belsize Park, a London branch of the smaller supermarket chain Budgens has already ripped the plastic off more than 2,300 of its 14,000 products.
Materials scientist Mark Miodownik, of University College London, said that plastic had become a victim of a global business model focused on “disposability and consumption”.
Part of the problem, he said, stemmed from the marketing of plastic in the 1960s, when it came to symbolise modernity and practicality.
Plastic is a great material but only if it can be recycled well, he added.
Britain’s Food Standards Agency notes that plastic limits the exposure of produce to air and moisture, extending its shelf life and “helping to reduce food waste”.
Read more here.
Source: The Straits Times, 21 August 2019