Sainsbury’s has revamped its packaging across its own-brand chicken and fish lines, with a new solution set to save 694 tonnes of plastic a year.
All own-brand salmon fillet trays are switching to pulp cardboard instead of plastic, a UK first. This will result in 70% less plastic, saving 346 tonnes of plastic per year.
The trays are made from sugarcane pulp and lined with polyethylene film, and are recyclable via kerbside recycling at home.
“With salmon being one of our most popular fish, we made it a priority to reduce the plastic on the packaging of this much-loved product as we work towards our Plan for Better goals,” said Claire Hughes, director of product and innovation at Sainsbury’s.
Alongside this, Sainsbury’s is rolling out cardboard trays across its Taste the Difference and By Sainsbury’s breaded chicken lines, set to save 300 tonnes of plastic a year.
The retailer is also making the same changes to its Taste the Difference breaded fish fillets, set to save 48 tonnes of plastic a year.
“We are now the first retailer to make the move to have recycled pulp card trays across all our By Sainsbury’s and Taste the Difference salmon products, enabling a whopping 70% plastic reduction,” added Hughes.
“Together with changes to our breaded fish and chicken packaging, we are set to save 694 tonnes of plastic a year – a significant step towards our plastic reduction goals.”
The retailer has also rolled out the new packaging across many seasonal chicken favourites including Sainsbury’s finger food and barbecue range.
The announcements are the latest in a string of changes made by the retailer as part of its commitment to reduce its own-brand plastic packaging, such as By Sainsbury’s plastic steak trays being replaced with cardboard alternatives.
The retailer was also the first to remove traditional plastic trays from its mince lines, swapping to vacuum packaging. It was met by backlash from consumers but the switch was soon adopted by other supermarkets.
Sainsbury’s also replaced plastic punnets for cardboard for all its own-brand mushrooms, saving 775 tonnes of plastic a year.
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