War on plastic

I recently visited Waitrose supermarket (as the largest supermarket on the island) with the firm intention not to buy anything packaged in single-use plastics. What I discovered was shocking. For instance, I visited the ‘reduced’ shelves to see what bargains were available. The shelves were full to the brim, but every single item was packaged in single-use plastic containers. Whilst some fruit and vegetables are available loose, the choice is very limited. For instance, there is just one variety of tomatoes available loose out of a selection of about a dozen varieties in all.

Other supermarkets and food retailers are just the same, some even worse. We need to do more. It is our responsibility as consumers, but retailers also have a major role to play. At the very least they should do more to encourage their customers to buy items either loose or in genuinely recycled packaging.

That brings me on to the most shocking element of the recent programme with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall; the fact that a very significant proportion of what we believe is being recycled simply isn’t. The UK exports 600,000 tonnes of recycling, much of it to developing countries with poor regulation.

Do we really know for certain exactly where our recycling ends up and can we guarantee that it is actually recycled? The answer is that, as consumers, we must reduce our dependence on single-use plastic.

Information is also key and I wonder if the States, as well as the supermarkets, could do more on that front? I didn’t know for instance that wet wipes, which many people use extensively, are made up of some 80%/90% plastic. I had no knowledge of this and we are now a wipe-free house. I suspect that when many other consumers hear of this fact, they too will stop using these products. There are alternatives, even if you have young children.

I hope that we can all do more. We must start now though. Start with just one change and then build from there. I’d like to visit a supermarket and to be confronted, as I enter the shop, with more information to show what options we have as consumers in terms of how retailers can help us to reduce our use of single-use plastic.

I shall look forward to hearing what our local supermarkets and indeed the States are planning to do on this issue. I hope that they can provide details of concrete actions and not just bland statements of intent and platitudes.

MARK HOLLIDAY

Address withheld.

Editor’s footnote: Paula Protheroe, branch manager at Waitrose & Partners, Admiral Park, replies:

Reducing the use of plastic is a priority for us and even though we have a long way to go, we are making good progress.

We are determined to make all our own-brand packaging widely-recycled, reusable or home compostable by 2023. 85% of the plastic in our own-brand product packaging is already widely recyclable.

Our progress includes removing all hard-to-recycle black plastic by the end of this year. We have already removed it from our fresh meat, fish, poultry, fruit and veg – amounting to a reduction of over 1,300 tonnes of black plastic per year.

We have also replaced fruit and vegetable bags with a home compostable alternative, saving 71m. plastic bags a year being supplied to customers in our shops.

We will work further with our customers to determine which plastic packaging can be removed without decreasing quality and reducing shelf life to make sure that we don’t increase food waste.