Today (3 April) Sainsbury’s announced it was removing single-use plastic trays from its whole chicken range in a bid to cut the plastic used in its packaging.
The move to trayless chicken packaging uses 50% less plastic, minimum, than the previous packaging and is estimated to save 140 tonnes of plastic per year. Sainsbury’s says that the film packaging on the products can still be recycled via Sainsbury’s front-of-store flexible plastic recycling points available in all Sainsbury’s stores across the UK.
The change will be applied to five of Sainsbury’s products and is the latest move by the UK retailer to halve its own brand packaging by 50% by 2025.
Keeping sustainability in mind, Sainsbury’s says it has also made improvements to its chicken welfare standards across its supply chains. The retailer has moved all its own brand chicken products to a lower stocking density that has given its chickens 20% more space than the Red Tractor industry standard.
Last month, Sainsbury’s introduced sustainable packaging for its own-brand liquid laundry detergent. The company said the change in packaging will reduce its plastic usage by 80%, saving around 22 tonnes a year. Last month the company also removed single-use plastic lids from its own brand dip pots, which include products such as guacamole, tzatziki and sour cream and chive dip.
