Tesco and Sainsbury’s have come under fire for allegedly deceiving customers with their front-of-store recycling initiatives, following an investigation that revealed most soft plastic returned to the stores was ultimately incinerated. The Everyday Plastic campaign group, alongside the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA UK), meticulously tracked 40 bundles of soft plastic waste, including single-use bags, films, and wrapping, as they passed through supermarket take-back schemes in various locations across England.
These major UK supermarkets, including Tesco and Sainsbury’s, introduced front-of-store collection points in recent years to help combat the issue of plastic waste. Customers can conveniently drop off soft plastic packaging that is not suitable for regular kerbside recycling at these designated points for the retailers to recycle. However, the investigation conducted by Everyday Plastic raised concerns after revealing the fate of the tracked plastic bundles. The bundles, monitored using Apple tracking devices, travelled over 25,000km across the UK and overseas between July 2023 and February 2024.
Of the tracked bundles that reached a final destination, a significant portion ended up being incinerated for fuel pellets, used by various industries such as cement kilns. Others were either burned for energy, downcycled into lower value plastic products abroad, or downcycled domestically. Shockingly, eight bundles were even shipped overseas, with 70% of those reaching a known destination being incinerated for energy rather than recycled.
The campaign groups highlighted that the collection points at the supermarkets have allowed Tesco and Sainsbury’s to make claims about nearing their voluntary packaging recyclability targets. Furthermore, the schemes have led to an increase in soft plastic packaging carrying misleading labels instructing consumers to recycle them at large supermarkets instead of communicating that they are not recyclable.
The investigation’s findings have sparked calls for more transparency and accountability in the recycling process, with advocates urging supermarkets to take responsibility for the waste they generate. As discussions for the UN Global Plastics Treaty approach their final stages, campaign groups are demanding a 40% reduction in global plastic production by 2040, a move they hope the UK Government and supermarkets will support.
While acknowledging the complexities of the current recycling infrastructure, experts emphasised the importance of fostering habits that promote proper waste separation. Both Tesco and Sainsbury’s have responded to the allegations, with Tesco acknowledging a supplier error that resulted in their materials being sent to an inappropriate location for recycling. The supermarkets reiterated their commitment to sustainable practices and emphasised the ongoing efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle packaging materials.
As the debate over plastic waste management intensifies, the focus remains on holding businesses accountable for their environmental impact and ensuring that recycling initiatives are truly effective in tackling the global plastic crisis.