An initiative that encouraged shoppers to return examples of excess packaging to Asda stores has provided useful information on how the public feels about the issue

Our customers tell us they don't want to see their spuds strangled in cellophane, or spend longer removing a ready meal from its packaging than it takes to cook it.

Council plans to stop weekly refuse collections and campaigns by the WI and government ministers telling shoppers to dump their packaging at the checkout have all forced the issue into the limelight.

That's why a month ago we at Asda made it our aim to reduce our own-

label food packaging by 25% by the end of the year. No mean feat with tens of thousands of different product lines in-store. As well as responding to customer concerns, we have woken up to the fact that before long every landfill site in Britain will be full. None of our stores or depots will send anything to landfill by 2010, but for customers it's not so easy.

As a responsible retailer we must reduce our primary packaging and make it easier for customers to recycle everything that's left. Currently 70% of the packaging in our stores is readily recyclable - our aim is to get this up to 100%.

To do this we need to develop radical new processes, technologies and solutions. As an industry we also need to ensure we are all heading in the same direction. It's no use one of us claiming something is recyclable if everyone else disagrees.

We must also engage with our customers. Our recent 'Leave it With Us' campaign aimed to do just that. We embarked on a four-week trial, giving customers the opportunity to return examples of excessive packaging. During the trial we gathered more plastic, paper and cardboard than the Blue Peter store cupboard. We also gained an insight into which products customers think are excessively packaged. The feedback from shoppers was fascinating.

We collected nearly 500 different examples of packaging: 50% were Asda lines and 42% were branded. The remaining 8% came from our competitors - Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons and even Debenhams!

Eight of the top ten most frequently left items were branded products and two of the top ten were our own lines. Among these items were big-box nappies, toothpaste and ready meals.

No big surprises there, but what we never anticipated was people removing packaging at the checkout. After all, packaging serves a good purpose. It communicates the nutritional information, use-by date, important allergy advice and cooking instructions. Above all it enables the customer to get the product home without it being bashed and battered. But, following a front page story in the Daily Mail, people were galvanised to bring back the bits of packaging that wind them up. The bins were brimming, but it didn't last.

We all lead very busy lives. Remembering to pick up and return the cardboard sleeve or tomato puree box that has been lying on the kitchen work surface all week is just another job that gets forgotten in the hectic pace of today's family life.

So phase two of our project has taken a different turn. We're still keen to hear from customers - but we need to make it easier for them. That's why we've launched a new email address, leaveitwithus@asda.co.uk, and a customer hotline so they can tell us about their concerns from the comfort of their own homes. Our job now is to act.

Shane Monkman, packaging buyer, Asda Stores

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